Dirty South Drug Wars
by Hoodfabulous
Summary: Bella and Edward meet at age twelve after the death of Bella's father, a death blamed on the Cullen family.  Their families are sworn enemies, fighting for territory over their rival drug trafficking businesses. Bella and Edward meet again at age eighteen and their attraction to one another is undeniable.  Will their forbidden love destroy them both? A Dirty South Fanfic. AH/OOC
1. Chapter 1: The Death of a King

_Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

_This fiction is rated 'M' for a reason. There is death mentioned throughout the chapters. No forewarnings of character death will be mentioned past this one. As I am only allowed to pick two genres, I would like to make a clarification before this fic begins. This fic is labeled drama/romance, but also contains suspense/action/mystery and periods of angst._

* * *

_This story is dedicated to_

_J.R. Hood_

_1958-2006_

_A true 'King' in his own right_

_And for his daughter_

_J.R. Marcy_

_1977-2007_

_I miss your smile, your infectious laugh, your friendship,_

_but most of all I miss your determination to be greater than the circumstances_

_in which you were born and your eventual need to just follow your heart._

_My memories of you haunt me every day._

_This one's for you._

* * *

**Chapter One: The Death of a King**

_War is the trade of Kings_

_~John Dryden~_

**_Bella Swan, age 12_**

They said the man in the long, shiny wooden box was my daddy, but I didn't believe that was my daddy. My daddy's skin was warm and ruddy from working on his old pickup truck in driveway. Days of lingering beneath the hot, Mississippi sun left his skin heavily tanned and leathered, leaving small cracks and wrinkles on the surface.

The man in the box was pale and cold. His hands were strategically placed one over the other, the golden wedding ring on his ring finger looking suspiciously like the one my father wore. The gray dress suit he wore was the color of charcoal and I knew immediately that the man wasn't my father, for my father never wore a suit, not even to church. And he especially wouldn't wear the light pink, silk tie that was tucked so neatly beneath the dead man's starched, white collar. Pink is a color for girls, and my daddy's a manly man. A matching pink handkerchief peaked out from the front of the man's suit jacket pocket. The wooden box was shut near his waist and covered in a beautiful spray of flowers, bursting in reds and yellows with huge, glossy leaves springing out between the blooms, their scent lingering over the man like an invisible cloud. My father loved flowers, particularly the ones planted lovingly by my mama in the flower beds surrounding our home.

My daddy was shot in the head by a Cullen, my family's archenemy. My Uncle Aro told me so. The man in the box didn't have a hole in his head. He had a bushy brown mustache and thick sideburns like my daddy, but no bullet hole. Wouldn't there be a hole? I knew there was no hole because I looked really hard when Aro walked with me, hand in hand, to see the man while Aro spoke to my Uncle Marcus. My Uncle Marcus was the burliest of my father's brothers, standing over six feet tall with thick muscles and darkly tanned skin, and his son, my cousin Emmett, looked just like him even at twelve years old. All the Swan men looked very much alike, sporting the same dark hair and dark eyes, such a deep chocolate color, appearing almost black at times. The name 'Cullen' came up over and over as they whispered to one another. It was a name I'd heard my whole life, all twelve years of it.

Uncle Aro let me touch the man's face when I leaned over the box. My fingers brushed against his cheek, and I was shocked at the coolness and hardness that I felt below my fingertips. If he'd just open his eyes, I'd know for sure if he was my daddy, because my daddy has big, brown eyes, the color of warm cocoa...eyes that matched my own.

Aro escorted me away from the box and I finally sat next to my mama and sister on the second wooden pew near the front of the funeral home, the man resting in an eternal slumber tucked neatly in his box a few feet away. My sister sat in our mama's lap, a solemn expression on her face. She was a year younger than me at eleven, and very pretty with inky black hair that flowed down her back in large waves. She had dainty features and big, brown eyes that were normally blissful and twinkling. Today they are solemn and fixed above our heads. I followed her gaze and saw a moth resting on the ceiling of the room, his dark, satiny wings standing out sharply against the faded white ceiling. Alice's eyes never moved as she stared at the insect, lost in her own world, a world that few of us understood.

She did that from time to time, traveled somewhere in her own head, completely unaware of the things happening around her. My daddy said Alice was special...my mama said she was crazy, but she was still my mother's favorite child. I was too serious, too quiet for my mother. She didn't understand me or my love of the galaxy, for science, poetry or my love of reading anything I got my hands on. No, I was my father's child, his pensive little hunting and fishing buddy. He loved Alice to no end, but he seemed to understand my quiet nature. Although I daydreamed, I never lost focus of my surroundings the way Alice could. My parents found Alice's oddities enduring but deep down I knew my sister wasn't like other kids our age. She was different, but then again, we all were, the Swan family, that is.

My mother began crying and Aro left his place near Uncle Marcus to bring her a wad of tissues, sitting beside her and murmuring gently in her ear as he wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. My mother's body quaked and shuddered as she sobbed, but Alice never flinched as she sat in Mama's lap, staring up above. Mama used the wadded tissue to dry her tear stained cheeks, trails of mascara lingering below her hazel eyes. Aside from her ruined makeup, my mother looked very pretty in her fitted black dress. Her short, auburn hair was curled at the ends and shone beneath the small, gold chandeliers hanging overhead.

The room was full of family, friends, and flowers. Some of the flower arrangements were from judges and lawyers; crooks that my daddy called his friends. My father called them 'the Southern elite' or 'the good 'ole boys' and he loved surrounding himself with them. The heavy, somber scent of carnations was a trademark scent of death in my mind. Funerals were a way of life, a social event of sorts, and unfortunately I'd been dragged to more funerals in my short life than I liked. It seemed like more people died in my family than anyone else's. Later in life, I'd find out exactly why.

Across the room, amidst my other family members, sat one of my favorite cousins, Emmett. Emmett's deep brown eyes locked on mine, looking despondent and worried. At the time I couldn't figure out why he was so worried. That wasn't his favorite uncle, his fishing buddy in that wooden box. That man wasn't Charlie Swan. That was a mannequin, laying in an infinite, waxy rest.

Emmett's eyes broke free of mine and the church suddenly went silent, all eyes turning to the door of the church where a tall, handsome man and a little boy entered. The man and the boy both wore crisp matching suits, but that's where their similarities ended. The man was strikingly handsome, looking to be in his late twenties with pale blonde hair and sparkling, crystal-blue eyes, the color of the sky on a clear, summer day. The boy at his side was no older than me with a mess of unruly bronze hair, the oddest color I'd ever seen. The strands were too long, flopping in his eyes. The boy's eyes scanned the crowd gawking at them in the church before they landed on mine. The shade of his eyes would forever be embossed in my mind, for they reminded me of the wild ferns that grew in the sloughs below my grandparents house, where me, Alice and our cousins loved to play and catch small, skinny, slithering snakes during the summertime.

The boy's lingering gaze caused me to shift uncomfortably in the pew, and he seemed to sense my unease. The boy quickly broke his eyes away from mine as he followed the tall man down the center isle, casually approaching us near the front of the chapel in the funeral home. A bouquet of white lilies were clutched in his hands, his long, slender fingers wrapped around the deep green stems. The petals were flushed yellow at the base and they were the most beautiful flowers I'd ever seen, far more beautiful that the flowers that covered the man in the box.

Someone shifted beside me and I turned around in the pew, breaking free from my rude staring as Aro stood up. His face was a mask of bitterness before he covered it with an indifferent look. Aro stood uncomfortably near where my mother sat as the blonde man, and the boy approached the dead man. The boy cast one last curious glance my way before he and the man met their destination. The blonde man leaned down, whispering something in the boy's ear; the boy nodded, his eyes glancing over the slumbering man in the box. They stood there for several minutes before turning to the line of family members who stood near the box, my uncles, aunts and cousins. My grandmother sat on the front pew, but stood up unsteadily at the sight of the blonde man and child, shuffling from the main area of the church as one of my aunts assisted her, glaring over her shoulder at the two visitors who were unfamiliar to me. Uncle Felix shook the man's hand with a scowl, in fact, all of my family members shared the same matching scowl as the noble-looking man smiled somberly at them.

Mama's sobs faded away as she scooped Alice up like a baby, mumbling something about checking on Nana. She shuffled out of the room, Alice's chocolate colored eyes finally leaving the moth on the ceiling to meet mine.

"You see that man, Isabella?" I heard my Uncle Aro whisper as he sat back down on the pew, scooting next to me. Following his harsh glare, my eyes landed on the blonde man who now stared directly at me, causing my heart to jump in my throat in shock.

"Yes, sir," I replied quietly, in a low whisper, taking slow, deep breaths. The man had his hand placed softly on the little boy's shoulder and was bent slightly at the waist, whispering in his ear as well as they watched us, mirroring us. I wondered if they were having the same conversation that we were.

"That's Carlisle Cullen," he said quietly, indicating the blonde man who stood a short distance away. "That little boy is his nephew, Edward. Carlisle and the little boys' father, Edward Sr., were brothers." I nodded my understanding, my young mind mapping out the relationship of the two males standing nearby.

"Edward's father died not too long ago and Carlisle raises the boy now as his own. Carlisle Cullen...he's the king now, now that your daddy is gone," my uncle mumbled, his dark eyes staring deeply into mine.

I'd heard people refer to my daddy as a king. I never understood what they meant. We lived in a pretty decent house compared to others in our poverty-stricken state of Mississippi, but it wasn't a castle. It was a lake house, a house that my father and grandfather built with their own hands before Alice and I were even born. He didn't wear a crown. Kings wore crowns, right? My father only wore faded caps with chewing tobacco logos splashed across the front.

"Where is his mama?" I asked, looking up at my uncle.

"She passed away when he was still a baby. Lung cancer, they say."

"What happened to his daddy? How did he die?" I asked curiously, momentarily shoving my thoughts of kings, crowns and red furry robes aside as I met the green eyes of the boy.

"He was murdered, just like your father. The poor bastard was shot in the head. He never stood a chance," he replied quietly, resting his arm on the pew behind me, his musky cologne burning the inside of my nostrils.

"Who murdered him?" I asked, always morbidly curious in my young age. I felt Aro's stern gaze and I glanced up at him, his wise, dark eyes narrowing in on my innocent ones.

Aro stared at me intently for a long moment before asking, "Can you keep a secret, baby girl?"

"Of course I can," I scoffed, clearly insulted as I crossed my arms and rolled my eyes at him. He chuckled quietly, a cold, bitter sound.

"You're right, Bella," he smiled. "I know you'll keep my secret, because you're a Swan. Are you sure you want to know, though? It's a heavy burden to carry, Isabella, knowing the truth when no one else does."

"Yes, just tell me who killed him!" I hissed quietly as the man and boy lingered only a few paces away, quickly closing in on us. Aro leaned forward, my ears burning in anticipation as he said two words, two words that I'd remember for the rest of my life.

"I did," he hissed, his breath tickling my ear as my eyes went wide and I turned to stare at him.

Ignoring my gaze, he pushed himself up from the pew, standing tall to greet Carlisle who now was stationed directly in front of us, his left hand casually in the pocket of his suit pants, the other hand reaching out to shake Aro's hand in greeting. My mother and Alice re-entered the room. I saw them in my peripheral vision, but I couldn't turn my attention fully away from the boy who stood in front of me. His mossy eyes drew me in and I was rendered still as he walked even closer to me, his pink lips drawn in a firm, hard line...just as hard as his eyes that bore into mine. The boy was only inches from where I sat when he reached out, offering me the breathtaking flowers in his hands. Hesitantly, I took them, gazing down at them in awe. They were pure and white, the smell mesmerizing. They were held together by a long, white ribbon. Pressing the petals to my nose, I closed my eyes and drew the scent into my lungs, savoring the soothing, clean smell.

"Death and innocence," I heard Aro mutter gruffly as he watched me sniff the flowers. "How appropriate for you to present them to the child who just lost her father."

"Is that what they symbolize?" Carlisle asked, sounding sincerely surprised at the meaning behind the flowers. My family glared at him from all directions.

"I honestly didn't know that was their symbolization," he drawled, both of his elegant hands pressed deep in his neatly pressed suit pants pockets. "I simply asked my nephew to pick out some pretty flowers for a pretty girl," he added, his eyes shifting to mine as he shot me a wink.

My uncle ignored his remark. "We're even now, Cullen," Aro spat, growing angry with his niceties. My Uncle Felix crossed the room to stand by his brother Aro's side, once hearing his angry, raised voice. "Your brother is dead and so is mine. Let's end this dispute between our families once and for all. Let it end here, in this room, forever."

"Ah, but I'm not entirely convinced the right brother is being buried today," Carlisle said, his tone no longer friendly, his smiling face now growing cold as he leaned back on his heels. "I'll never be sure who killed my brother, until every Swan is dead." His voice took on a threatening tone that made me shiver as I clutched the delicate flowers between my fingers, hiding my face from the boy who gazed at me curiously by his uncle's side.

"But I agree that we should make some...negotiations, go over the rules and settle some boundaries, so to speak. The moment the funeral is over, you and I will talk," Carlisle continued, reaching out to lightly touch his nephew's shoulder. Edward glanced up at him and Carlisle nodded his head in my direction, giving him a pointed look.

Edward pursed his lips, dropped his gaze to the floor and mumbled, "Sorry for your loss."

Those were the only words he spoke the entire time. His voice was soft and quiet, nothing like the firm, confident tone of his uncle Carlisle. Carlisle smiled down at him and they turned, strolling down the center aisle of the chapel before disappearing through the doors. The quiet building suddenly erupted in hushed whispers and sneers, the audacity of the Cullen man entering the building infuriating my relatives.

The actual service started minutes later. Everyone stood except for my family who took up several pews on both sides of the chapel. My father's brothers and a few of my older male cousins filed in solemnly as the short, stout woman played a somber tune on the old upright piano, slightly hidden beyond a jungle of flower arrangements. They sat quietly on the front, right pew as the preacher requested everyone to sit down. A teenage girl with blonde curls stood near the piano and began to sing 'In the Garden', her youthful, innocent voice hitting every note perfectly in tune, sending the room full of my friends and family sniffing and crying into their tissues. Alice sat by my side now, no longer in Mama's lap. Mama sat on the opposite side of her, next to Nana Swan whose body was wracked with sobs. Alice clutched her tiny hand in mine and I hugged her tiny frame against my slightly taller one, resting a reassuring arm across her shoulders as silent tears flowed down her cheeks.

"Daddy's dead," she whispered, the tears flowing heavily as a man approached the box and carefully shutting the lid. I heard my mother and Nana practically scream out in sadness as they clung to one another and the man disappeared beneath the lid, never to be seen by human eyes again.

"_I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses. And the voice I hear falling on my ear, the Son of God discloses_," the young girl sang, her voice rising and falling above the wails of my loved ones.

"That's not our daddy, Alice," I told her firmly, my face void of tears. "He looks nothing like Daddy. That's not him. Our daddy is big and strong. Our daddy is gonna live forever." My words did nothing to comfort my sister as she began to gasp for air, her little body trembling beneath my arm.

"_And He walks with me, and He talks with me, and he tells me I am His own; and the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known_."

"Wake up, Bella!" Alice snapped, her eleven-year-old voice sounding strong and harsh. She wiped her nose with the back of her hand, her breath shuddering and gasping. "That's our daddy! He's dead Bella! He's dead! And it's the Cullen's fault. I hate them! I hate the Cullens!"

"_He speaks, and the sound of His voice is so sweet, the birds hush their singing and the melody that He gave to me, within my heart is ringing_."

"Alice, be quiet!" I hissed, my face growing hot as my cheeks flamed up. I was not only embarrassed that the sobbing people in the church quieted down as they heard her childish voice ringing across the aisles, but also because I was still lost in my sweet denial, not wanting Charlie Swan to be that man in the long, silent box.

"_I'd stay in the garden with Him, though the night around me be falling. But He bids me go; through the voice of woe, His voice to me is calling_,"the sweet voice finished, the last note hanging in the air for a moment before drifting slowly away as the stout woman behind the piano quietly ended the song.

The lyrics the girl sang, about the Lord's sweet voice, reminded me of my daddy's sweet voice as he called me his little girl and gave me his trademark grin, his lips curling up beneath the thick mustache. I remembered lazy days on our lake, my father casting in a line as he scolded Alice and I for wiggling around in the boat too much, claiming we were scaring away the fish. His face appeared before me as I cried when my favorite dog died. Daddy buried him beneath an old white oak tree near the house, the very same tree that my pet dog loved lounging beneath. Daddy's comforting, calloused hands patted me on my head as we said a small prayer for the little dog, always taking his daughters emotions into consideration.

Oh, God...what if that is my daddy in that box? My eyes dart around in denial, but there's no denying that my father isn't sitting nearby, looking uncomfortable with the displays of emotion from the ones around him. My daddy was in that box...in that coffin. He was dead. My poor daddy was dead. My heart clenched inside my chest as the tears finally arrived, flooding my cheeks as I began to scream.

"Daddy!" I cried out hysterically, the white lilies slipping between my fingers.

They made a sickening, crunching sound beneath my black Mary Janes as I lurched from the pew and scrambled down the aisle, crushing the petals beneath my feet and bumping into the knees of surprised relatives. They quietly hissed their protests, their hands pulling at my black, pleated dress as I shoved them away. Flinging myself forward I grabbed the gold, metal handle near edge of the heavy lid, struggling to lift it to see my daddy. My frail voice broke across the room as I grasped the handle, pushing and pulling impossibly against the casket. Someone grabbed me from behind and I hollered and cried for my daddy.

Alice appeared by my side, always by my side as she attempted to help me lift the lid. The soft glow of the chandeliers made the gold handle shine, our tiny fingerprints smeared across the gleaming surface. Marcus had me around the waist, whispering soothingly into my ear. Ignoring his words, I kicked and clawed at him, watching as my tiny sister continued to struggle with the lid, her small, childish voice calling out for our daddy as well. Aro broke across the room, easily scooping her up and pulling her away from the casket. The room continued to fill with the sobs and gasps of family and friends, the emotional scene we'd unknowingly caused provoked their wails to grow louder. Marcus and Aro pulled Alice and I from the viewing room, dragging us screaming and fighting as the balding minister cleared his throat at the podium, softly announcing it was time for a prayer.

They pulled us from chapel area, taking us outside, kindly pleading with us to calm down. After the bribing didn't work we were threatened to be silent, pay attention and stop making a scene. We embarrassed our mother, they told us. Alice and I didn't care. She was a year younger than I, but we had twin hearts and I knew she didn't care. She wanted to see our daddy one last time just as much as I did. But we wouldn't see him again. Aro and Marcus escorted us back into the viewing room and we sat quietly near stoney-faced mother, who shot me a glare as she took my sister's hand in her own. Bending down, I picked up the broken flowers, unwinding the long white ribbon from the stems and shoving it sadly into a tiny pocket hidden among the pleats in my skirt.

I was the strong one. I was the smart one. I wasn't one to make scenes or throw tantrums. I was ashamed of myself for the way I'd behaved and terrified of the vengeful look my mother gave me as I slid into the pew. My mother was an angry woman, her spirit only tamed by my father, a father I no longer had. What would become of my mother without my father nearby acting as a buffer for her mood swings?

The minister droned on and on, wiping his watery blue eyes beneath his tiny spectacles with a cotton handkerchief. I tried to drown out his words. They were too sweet, too kind as they spoke of my father and I suddenly didn't want to remember him, for if he never existed he could never be missed. And I didn't want to miss him. I wanted him there by my side, telling me I was his little buddy.

The eulogy was presented by my father's best friend, Harry Clearwater, who carried a cane and walked with a limp. Leaning heavily on his cane, hand carved from a poplar tree, he spoke kindly of my father, reminiscing about fishing trips. Harry told a funny story about the time my daddy fell out of their boat and into the lake, and the audience quietly laugh between their sniffles. My father grabbed the boat in an attempt to pull himself back in, which caused the boat to flip over with Harry in it. He chuckled lightly as he told his tale, wiping his cheeks with a tattered tissue as he finished.

The teenage girl with the golden curls sang one last song as the minister instructed everyone to stand. She sang 'Shelter In The Arms Of God" as the men in my family stood and walked to the casket, gathering on each side as I watched wide-eyed as a man opened a side door in the room. The men hoisted the casket from the stand on which it perched, one of my younger cousins near one end struggling with the weight as the men carried my father away. A long, black hearse sat outside the door, and I cried as I watched them push the casket into the back of the car, shutting the door behind him.

Alice and I tried very hard to avoid the cheek-pinchers, but inevitably failed. The most frightening ones were the old women, friends of my grandmother, whose makeup settled in the deep wrinkles that lined their faces. They wore tacky, light pink lipstick and funny looking hats resting on their perfectly curled bobs, fresh from their weekly perms. Everyone wanted to speak to the poor little girls of the fallen man, patting us kindly on the top of our heads and staring at us with their sympathetic eyes. I couldn't stand sympathy from others. For someone to feel _sorry_ for me...it was an uncomfortable, crushing feeling. I hated it.

Alice and I rode with our mother and Aro behind the black hearse. Alice pressed her face against the glass, suddenly excited to watch the cars pull over on the side of the road in respect of the funeral parade as we traveled the distance between the funeral home and the cemetery. The police escort in front of the hearse was an unusual sight, and I heard my uncle laugh, shaking his head as he told my mother that daddy was probably laughing, wherever he may be. For even in death my father still couldn't shake the cops. My mother didn't laugh. She didn't smile. She stared bitterly through the window, watching as the hills and trees swirled by as we approached the cemetery. The policeman left us there, waving to Aro who nodded his head in response.

There was a deep green carpet-type material spread around an open grave, my father's casket hovering over the deep hole on some sort of machine. White, wooden folding chairs were lined in front of the casket and that is where we sat while the minister gave one last short speech, consoling the friends and family of Charlie Swan. There was one last, long, sorrowful prayer as everyone began to cry, me included. The machine slowly dropped my father's body into the ground, and that's all it was; a body. My father was no longer of this Earth, his soul gone somewhere beyond. At least that's what the minister said. My mother stood, ignoring Alice and I as she softly chatted to those around her, giving them hugs and thanking them for coming to the funeral. To others her expression was one of seriousness, but I knew that look. Renee was eating up the attention. It's not that she wasn't sad, but my mother loved drama. And what's more dramatic than burying your murdered husband.

There was a dinner for the family at my grandmother's church, provided by all the member's of said congregation. We pulled up to the red brick building, built in the nineteen-fifties with the help of my grandparents themselves. The adults filed into the building, the women with their fine dresses and pantyhose-clad legs, the men in their suits, now free of their jackets due to the sweltering Mississippi heat. It was only April, but April feels like summer in the south, and the sun bore down on us children who were now left to our own devices. Alice and I watched the boys play tag for a while, before Alice left me sitting on the sidewalk to dart after them. Her deep, purple dress stood out boldly against the white slag parking lot, her shiny shoes becoming dusty and scuffed.

The sun sank in the horizon and I watched as the sky became streaked with yellow, pink, purple and gold. A newer model, navy Town Car crept down the small road that the church sat on and I watched it pull into the lot, sending my sister and wild cousins yelling and scattering as they ran around to the back of the church, a basketball game in the works. Wrapping my arms around my legs, I leaned against the building and watched as Carlisle Cullen stepped from the car, closing his door firmly as he spotted me sitting on the dirty sidewalk that ran along the side of the church.

Standing up, I dusted the back on my black pleated dress off with my shaky hands, creeping sideways to the church door as Carlisle watched me, a seemingly gentle smile on his handsome face. I was distrustful of this man. He was a Cullen after all and it was a Cullen who killed my father. It could be Carlisle Cullen himself. I'd heard the Cullen name enough leaving my father's lips through the years to know that the Cullens were our enemies. The Swan and Cullen families were not friends and didn't intermingle with one another. I eased into the church doors, darting inside to find Aro who stood next to Marcus and Felix.

"Carlisle Cullen is here," I told the men breathlessly, their dark eyes darting up to the church doors just as Carlisle entered the building.

He wasn't alone. Edward stood by his side, his green gaze unwavering as I stared back. Maybe it was because I'd heard his surname throughout the years without meeting a Cullen, or maybe it was because he was the descendent of a king just as I was, but for some reason I was morbidly curious about the bronze-haired, beautiful boy.

"Carlisle. You don't waste any time, do you?" Felix sneered, crossing his arms over his massive chest, the seams in his shirt pulling at the motion.

"Ah, you know me Felix. I always make time for the lovely Swan family," he purred. "With the recent...decline in our joined families, I thought it wise to sit down and re-negotiate the rules that our brothers agreed upon long ago."

"Where are the rest of the Cullen swine?" Marcus asked, glancing down at a glowering Edward at Carlisle's side. "I thought y'all traveled in packs together."

"I represent my family now that my brother is gone," Carlisle said quietly as Edward visibly stiffened beside him at the mention of his deceased father. "Until little Edward turns eighteen, that is, if that's the path he decides to choose."

"Fine," Aro replied, glancing down at us children. "Bella, why don't you run along, sweetheart?"

"She can keep Edward company," Carlisle suggested, apparently surprising his nephew from the way his eyes snapped from my face and landed on his uncle's. He began to argue, but Carlisle shook his head firmly, placing a gentle hand on his nephew's shoulder, and murmured, "Edward, I know you think you're old enough to know all the secrets of the family trade, but you're not. Be patient, son. Enjoy being a stupid kid while you still can." He winked at the scowling boy, gesturing towards a classroom nearby full of colorful toys, a long table and chairs. The boy slumped off, his shoulders hunched and his head hanging down.

Aro gestured to the chapel to the right of the lobby in which we stood. The doors were sealed shut and their tiny, square windows showed nothing but darkness beyond. Aro opened the doors and the men entered the room, Marcus flipping on the light before he turned and shut the doors behind the group.

People passed me as I stood in that lobby, some of them leaving to travel a great distance home, others stepping outside to check on their heathen children. After a vast amount of time I tiptoed to the door of the classroom, wringing my hands timidly together as I stepped through the doorway. Edward sat near a window, peering through the wavy glass at the laughing children outside as they took turns passing a ball to one another. His gaze left the window as I entered the room, lingering on me as I pulled out a metal folding chair and sat down at the table, glancing up nervously at the boy who sat nearby. Turning back to watch the kids outside, neither one of us said anything for a long time until he finally broke the silence, his soft voice causing me to flinch at the sudden sound.

"What's your name?" he asked, his eyes dancing across my face, studying my features.

"Bella," I whispered, shy from his watchful gaze.

"Where are your flowers?" he murmured, his green eyes breaking away from my face to glance down at my empty hands.

"They were crushed," I whispered, dejectedly, either my tone or response causing him to glance away from my hands to study my sad disposition. "I'm sorry. They were very pretty. I've never seen anything prettier."

There was a long pause before he whispered, "I have."

His cheeks flushed, and he dipped his head slightly, avoiding my gaze. My forehead furrowed in confusion as I analyzed his words, the insinuation behind them slowly seeping in. My mouth opened and closed a few times, attempting an intelligent response but finding none. I felt my face flame up as well, for no boy ever called me pretty, not even Mike Newton who had a crush on me since kindergarten.

"You, um, you didn't give my sister any flowers," I accused, shifting in my seat, trying to steer the conversation in another direction, any direction away from my embarrassment.

"I didn't know you had sister," he confessed quietly, glancing back up at me. "Carlisle only mentioned you, but that doesn't matter. Even if I brought two bunches, I'd given them both to you."

My cheeks flamed even harder at his words and I sputtered, "Why...why are you saying things like that?"

"Because it's true. Am I...offending you?" he asked softly, reaching up to rub his forehead. His fingers found their way into his tangled hair. He pushed the strands away from his forehead, but they fell stubbornly back in place.

"No, you're not...offending me," I responded, chewing on one corner of my mouth at his words. I'd never heard anyone my own age speak the way he did or be as openly honest with his own thoughts. "But you can't say stuff like that to me. We can't be friends. Our families hate each other."

"I know they do," he said, his voice taking sharp tone as his eyes narrowed upon me. "Both of our fathers are dead because of their stupid feud. _Your_ father murdered_my_ father."

I opened my mouth to argue, Aro's confession running through my mind, but my mouth suddenly snapped shut as I remembered the promise I made to him. His was a secret I promised to keep, but not being able to defend my father against Edward's words nearly killed me. I didn't want him to think my father was the one who ended his life. My father wasn't perfect. He made mistakes, many of which I witnessed through the years, but he was no murderer. Tears sprung to my eyes and I brushed them away stubbornly, glancing down at my lap.

"Please don't cry. I didn't mean to make you cry," he whispered worriedly, standing up from his place near the window.

Edward slowly approached me, pulling out a chair beside me and sitting next to me at the table. Sniffing, I took a deep breath, inwardly willing myself to stop crying in front of this boy. He reached out, touching my bare hand that rested on the table. A strange, warm sensation flowed between us at his touch, and we both stared at one another in surprise before we both gazed down at Edward's hand resting lightly on my own.

"Do you know why they call my daddy a king?" I asked him as his fingers rubbed the back of my hand, sending warm tingles up my arm.

"You don't know?" he asked, sounding surprised. I shook my head, staring down at the table instead of meeting his eyes. "He wasn't a king like you're probably thinking. He was a _kingpin_. That means..." He was interrupted by a sudden, angry voice.

"Isabella!" the voice snapped, and I yelped out in shock.

Edward snatched his hand away from mine and we both stood from the table, the metal chairs making loud, scratching sounds as the motion pushed them away from our bodies. We stared guilty at Aro and Carlisle who stood peering at us through the doorway, identical horrified looks on their faces.

"Edward, don't touch that girl," Carlisle whispered, his face slightly ashen. "Swan girls are nothing but trouble. She'll be the death of you."

Edward cast me one last somber glance before pressing himself past a glowering Aro to meet his uncle just outside the door. They disappeared and Aro entered the room, grabbing my arm and yanking it viciously. I gasped, my head jerking at the action.

"Stay away from him, Isabella Swan," my uncle warned. "Do you understand me? I swear on your father's grave if I ever find you mixed up with a Cullen boy, I'll kill you myself. Is that clear?"

"Yes...yes, sir," I ground out between gritted teeth.

His strong fingers dug into my bony arm as he squeezed and shook it, emphasizing the seriousness of his words. Dropping my arm after one final squeeze, he left the room, shaking his head and muttering to himself as he went.

I stayed in the classroom a long time, remembering the feeling of the boy's fingers against my hand, wondering if I'd ever meet him again. Little did I know that we would, in fact, meet again and our worlds would come crashing down around us, because we were caught in the middle of our family's war...a dirty south drug war.

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Beta'd by **AliCat0623**. I'm not only happy to call her my Beta, Ruzzle and texting buddy, but also my friend :)

DSDW banner by the great** Ana Fluttersby**

Shout out to **Cheech83** for pre-reading the first few chapters. I love you my Yankee BFF :)


	2. Chapter 2: Kick Me When I'm Down

_Previously, in Chapter One..._

_I stayed in the classroom a long time, remembering the feeling of the boy's fingers against my hand, wondering if I'd ever meet him again. Little did I know that we would, in fact, meet again and our worlds would come crashing down around us, because we were caught in the middle of our family's war...a dirty south drug war._

* * *

_"Stab the body and it heals, but injure the heart and the wound lasts a lifetime."_

_~Mineko Iwasaki~_

**Chapter Two: Kick Me When I'm Down**

**_Bella Swan, age 16_**

Cullen, Cullen, Cullen...this name fell from the lips of my various family members on an almost daily basis throughout the years after we buried my father. Their obvious disdain for the Cullens was practically palpable.

Throughout the years following the death of my father, our two families continued to feud and squabble. No one knew exactly what started the decades-old quarrel. I always assumed it stemmed from their rival drug trafficking businesses, but my cousin Emmett told me that had nothing to do with what started the feud. Emmett once told me the war started many, many years ago when a Swan ancestor began a secret, torrid love affair with one of the Cullen men. They were both married and were both found dead, terrifyingly similar to the way my father was found...shot in the head and dumped in a vacant field on the outskirts of town. Thus began a lifelong hatred between the two families.

Although the men of the two families fought and argued on a more serious level, the children played on a whole different ball field. My cousin Emmett, being a prankster by nature, loved to get the best of the Cullen kids. Em once ordered a bunch of gay porn, using a prepaid card he bought at Walmart, put the porn in Edward Cullen's name and had it shipped directly to Carlisle Cullen's home address. He held a perma-smile on his adorable, deeply-dimpled face for weeks after that, as his mind played out the image of Carlisle opening packages of gay porn addressed to his underage son. We would sit in class and he'd suddenly burst into laughter as he remembered what he'd done. Tears streamed down his face and the teacher admonished him for his interrupting outburst, sending him to detention after school. I'd shake my head in amusement and shame...mostly shame.

Emmett stayed in detention for one thing or the other, but he wasn't the only Swan who held a permanent desk there. My cousin Kate practically lived in detention for all the shit she pulled while in school. My twin cousins, Makenna and Benjamin, stayed in trouble quite a bit as well. You couldn't hold it against them; we'd all been raised pretty rough. Having the FBI knock down your bathroom door during a bubble bath a time or two makes a person bitter, and we were a cynical, bitter bunch.

We were the children of a bunch of criminals, a gang of brothers who were rumored marijuana traffickers. It'd never be proven though; not as long as Billy Black was the chief of police in town. Billy was in cahoots with my family for as long as my memory allowed and was always excellent at covering evidence of my family's indiscretions.

I didn't agree with the lifestyle of my relatives. Most of my drama ended with the death of my father. There were no more agents knocking down doors. There were no more unmarked vehicles parked at the end of our long, tree-lined drive. My father, in his feeble attempt to keep people at bay, specifically built our house so far into the woods that anyone driving by couldn't catch a glimpse of our home. But that didn't stop them from driving by, spying on us from time to time. My home was no longer considered a hot-spot and although Aro, my childless uncle, would love nothing more than for me to one day fill in Charlie Swan's big shoes, I could never be that person.

My life was a strange one to put it mildly. My grandparents raised a bunch of thugs, but my grandmother was very well respected in the community, just as my deceased grandfather had been. She was a local business owner and brought revenue into the community with the bakery that she owned.

My uncles were business owners as well, owning a construction company that contracted out to wealthy people all over the mid-south. My father once owned that company, but it belonged to his brothers Aro, Marcus, Felix, and Alec now. It was a good, legitimate cover for their drug business.

The notoriety we received was odd. People were simultaneously awed and terrified of us. I'd never been on a date, not because the boys in class were apprehensive to ask me out, but because I knew they'd never take me home to meet their parents. I refused to go out with anyone who was too ashamed to introduce me to their mother or father. My cousins had the same problem as well.

We were all around the same age; Kate, Emmett, and I were all sixteen. Makenna, Benjamin and Alice were fifteen at the time. They were slightly more disappointed over the whole 'relationship' situation. At that point in my life, I really couldn't care any less. I'd rather spend my time with my nose stuck in a book or sketching in my sketch book than hanging out with a bunch of vapid teen boys at the local deli. Yawn.

At least that's what I told myself. Truth be told, I was always a little lonely. Alice was a good sister to have, always keeping me entertained with her kookiness, but that would take a drastic turn in later years. But even her company wasn't enough to fill this strange void that I felt in my life. I wanted to fall in love. I didn't want the awkward first date to the movies or the fumbling kiss in the backseat of a steamy car. I wanted heart-stopping, life-altering, full-blown romance.

Alice and I were latchkey kids. Our mother, Renee, worked long hours as a nurse at the local hospital, which happened to be located directly across the Tenn-Tom River. That was Cullen territory, but Mama's indiscretion was forgiven, for legitimate work happened to be one thing their verbal contract actually allowed.

I drove Alice and myself everywhere in my Jeep. I loved my Jeep. It was black with a tan soft top that we never left on from the months of April through mid-October. There's no greater feeling than riding around with the wind whipping through our hair. It's a small freedom that I learned to enjoy.

The Jeep was a gift on my sixteenth birthday. I called it a 'guilt-gift' because it was given to me by my mother in an attempt to make herself feel less guilty about the lack of time she spent with her two girls. That's the way my mother worked. When she slacked off spending time with us she'd try to make it up by buying us trivial things. She was a busy woman working all the time, but even on her off-days she stayed far from home, leaving us to fend for ourselves the majority of the time. When I brought up how we'd rather spend time with her than have all the gifts in the world she'd put me on a guilt trip, bitching about the bills and how the reason she worked tons of overtime was for us. She said she wanted the best for her girls, but I knew the truth. The hospital was not only her bread and butter, but it was her husband and kids; It was the family she'd rather had.

Over the years I'd become the woman she never was. I was the cook, the housekeeper, the one who made sure the bills were paid on time. Most of my spare time was spent keeping Alice out of trouble, and that was hard enough to do on my own. Alice became dependent on me, and I hated that I was a sixteen year old girl and already felt twice my age. My mother made me feel guilty complaining about these things, telling me that she was a single mother and to stop being so selfish about helping her out. Slowly I began to resent the woman.

I wished my father were still alive. But he wasn't. He was dead and it was by the hands of a Cullen, or so my family says. The identity of his killer was never uncovered. No evidence was found other than tire tracks near the empty field where his body was discovered. The tire tracks were identified to a certain make and model of car not found to belong to anyone in our small town of Mayhaw, nor the neighboring town across the river, Birchwood. That's where the Cullen clan resided, thank God. If we all lived in the same town I had no doubt we'd all of killed each other. Mayhaw was a much smaller town than Birchwood, but still in the same county. Birchwood was extremely prosperous, thanks to Carlisle Cullen who owned one of the biggest furniture factories in the great state of Mississippi. It supplied hundreds, if not thousands of jobs.

I didn't share the same sort of animosity for the Cullens as my family did. Don't get me wrong, I still couldn't stand them for the simple fact that one or more of them caused my father's demise. However, my father was in the thick of it all, bringing trouble his way by his own hand. Not only did I blame the Cullens for his death, but my father and his own brothers as well. If not for the way they chose to live their lives my father would still be here, walking this earth.

Our two towns were separated by the marshy, muddy waters of the Tennessee-Tombigbee River, also known by the locals as the 'Tenn-Tom'. The river juts through Tennessee, the northeast corner of Mississippi and then branches across the state line into Alabama. The rules were simple; the Cullens stay on their side of the river and we Swans stay on ours.

I hadn't seen a Cullen since the day they lowered my father six feet into the red-clay earth. Until one pivotal day, a day I'd never forget. It's the day I was kicked while I was already down.

The stomach virus ran rampant throughout the school and the kids started dropping like flies. When the nausea hit me, it was sudden and startling. Rarely did I become sick. My immune system was stellar. Coach Clouse dismissed me from gym after finding me hunched over, clutching my abdomen and moaning in pain. He demanded I see the school nurse and enlisted none-other than Mike Motherfudging Newton to escort me to her office. Even through the pain I managed to roll my eyes in annoyance at my overly eager attendant who seemed to magically appear by my side.

Mike Newton had a crush on me since forever. He was cute enough, I guess, with his spiky blonde hair and deep blue eyes. Mike was of average height and with the body of an athlete, having played every sport imaginable since being old enough to hold a bat and ball. Mike's parents owned a prevalent sporting goods store in town, which made his family upper middle-class. Upper middle-class is defined as 'rich' by rural, Mississippi standards, automatically making him one of the most popular kids in our class. Well, that and the fact that he was a pretty decent guy, if not a little naive and gullible. The pretty girls ran after him like dogs in heat. Why he crushed on me was beyond my comprehension.

Mike placed one hand on the small of my back as he escorted me from the basketball and tennis courts near the school to the nurse's office. Although I felt bad, I was somewhat ecstatic over missing gym class. It was dodgeball day, and the basketball court turned into a battle zone as Lauren Mallory and Jessica Stanley, also known as the 'Trailer Park Twins', or 'TPT' for short, flung ball after ball in record-breaking speed at the weaker, physically inept kids. Jessica and Lauren weren't really twins. They weren't even related to one another, but they did live in a trailer park and had the same silky blonde hair, sky-blue eyes, and slinky bodies.

In an alternate universe, I'd be one of the weaker kids the girls picked on. But this wasn't an alternate universe, for I was a Swan and I'd been picked for the popular kids team by my last name alone. Plus, TPT were good friends with my cousin Kate, and they'd never cross Kate Swan. At least not if they knew what was good for them.

"Are you okay?" Mike asked me sympathetically as we walked slowly up the paved road leading from the courts to the high school. His hand made unfamiliar circles as he rubbed the small of my back lightly.

"No, I feel like crap," I moaned, too miserable to care about the way he touched me.

I stopped walking momentarily to dry heave in the ditch running along the side of the road, bending over and placing my hands on the front of my thighs as I gagged. Mike cringed as I retched, nothing coming up. With red cheeks, I spit multiple times. I was embarrassed over being sick in front of Mike, but silently wished I'd just throw up knowing it would make me feel better.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, straightening up and wrapping my arms around my torso as we started up the blacktop.

"Nah, it's all good," he assured me, placing his hand on the small of my back again. "I had the virus last week so I know how you feel. Remember? I missed two days of school."

He assumed I'd missed seeing him at school...but I had no memory of Mike missing for two days. I paid little attention to those around me, as I was lost in my own thoughts most of the time. I secretly wished I had the same feelings for Mike that he had for me. My heart felt nothing over the feeling of his hand on my body and the concern in his voice. Why couldn't I be one of those girls who chased after Mike?

We arrived at the nurse's office and parted ways. Mike gave me a meek smile and murmured his get-wells as he left. I gave him a small smile and entered the nurse's office.

The large box fan that stood in the corner of the room was a sweet relief to the heat outside, immediately sending a cool breeze against my sticky, warm skin and causing my arms to erupt in goosebumps. Due to the dodgeball fiasco, the shirt I wore clung to my sweaty skin. I tugged at it relentlessly, pulling it away from where it was plastered against my body as I called out the nurse's name.

She emerged from the back room wearing a pair of pink scrubs with smiling, cartoon children faces scattered across the top. Nurse Cope was slightly overweight and her portly belly pressed tightly against the too-small scrub top. Her rounded face was a mask of concern, her blue eyes peering through the thick glasses perched on her short, chubby nose.

"Isabella! You look so pale! What's wrong, sweetheart?" she asked, her thick southern drawl edged with worry.

"I think I caught the stomach virus," I moaned, a wave of dizziness washing over me as I leaned against the small desk near her office door for support.

She tisked in concern, wrapping one arm around me, leading me to a room in the back of the office. She asked me to lay on a small cot while she searched for a thermometer. Mrs. Cope eventually returned to the room, pressing a sheath-covered thermometer under my tongue and instructed me to hold it there. I closed my eyes and she waited patiently beside me, perched on the edge of the cot, rubbing my clammy hand in a motherly fashion that was foreign to me.

"You have a low-grade fever, my dear," she announced, peering down at me over the rim of her glasses. "You need to go home, sweetie, and take something for that fever. And drink lots of water. I don't think you're in any shape to drive yourself home. Is Renee home today?"

"No, ma'am," I groaned, pressing my hand to my warm forehead. If I have a fever why did I suddenly feel so cold? Being sick wasn't a feeling I was familiar with. "She's working a double-shift today. Can you call my Aunt Maggie?"

Mrs. Cope nodded and left in search of the cordless phone. I had my cell in my pocket but didn't pull it out in fear of having it confiscated. Having cell phones in school was a big no-no, and the punishment was confiscation without return until the end of the school year. That was months away and I wouldn't risk losing it.

Maggie eventually arrived to pick me up from school. The both helped me into her small, white pickup truck. The inside smelled of pineapples and coconuts from the multiple air fresheners hung from the rearview mirror. They were meant to mask the smell of weed, but my canine like nose still detected the scent and I chuckled humorously as Mrs. Cope slammed the door behind me. Rolling my window down to escape the strong, tropical smell, I took in mouthfuls of clean, warm air into my lungs. Maggie hopped into the truck. After seeing me glare at the offensive air fresheners, she snatched them down from the rearview mirror, and shoved them into the console, closing it was a satisfying snap. She murmured her apologies and I gave her a watery smile.

"You poor thing!" she cooed, pulling the truck through the school parking lot and heading towards the outskirts of town. The side window was slightly cracked and her curls bounced and danced in the wind. Her hair was just as blonde as her daughter, Kate's. Kate was the only Swan kid that didn't have dark brown or black hair, making her look like an oddity among the mass of us.

"I'm taking you home and making you some homemade chicken soup. Nana's recipe, of course!"

"Ugh, don't mention food. I'm never gonna eat again," I moaned, pulling my cell from my back pocket. "Besides, we probably don't have any of the ingredients you need to make it anyway. I haven't been to the grocery store in a week...maybe two."

I saw Maggie's lips draw a hard, firm line and her blue eyes glare through the front windshield. It was no secret that she'd grown to dislike my mother, a person who was once her best friend. Maggie voiced on more than one occasion her disapproval of the way my mother piled everything on my shoulders.

I shot Alice a text telling her that I was sick, and to be very discrete while using her spare Jeep key to drive home. Alice was only fifteen and I couldn't afford a ticket for her underage driving. She quickly texted me back about ten times, but I ignored her, shoving the phone back into my pocket.

Maggie changed the subject and began to ramble on about Kate's antics, her voice sounding disturbed, but the slight smile on her face told me that she found Kate's behavior amusing. She began trying to discreetly pick me for information on some boy Kate supposedly started dating. Little did she know Kate wasn't 'dating' anyone. Kate was screwing a couple of guys, but wasn't 'dating' any one, particular person. I answered her with vague, unimportant answers as we turned down the long, winding, country road where Mama, Alice and I lived.

Maggie pulled into the driveway slowly, her voice stopping abruptly as we made it not even halfway down the tree-lined drive. She immediately shoved the gear shift in reverse, quickly and quietly backing up the steep driveway. I glanced at the house down below us. The lake and small swimming pool were shimmering just to the right. There was an unfamiliar vehicle sitting in the driveway. I looked at my aunt in confusion, taking in the horrified expression on her face. I turned back to glance at the vehicle as we disappeared around the corner of the driveway.

The pickup truck was a huge, gleaming monstrosity of a thing with fat, black mud tires and completely chromed out in silver. It was an extended-cab, diesel guzzling monster painted hunter green. It looked brand-spanking new and probably cost more than our house.

"My God, Isabella," Maggie whispered, her face pinched in distress. "What the hell is going on?"

"Who's truck is that?" I asked, struggling to get one last glimpse as Maggie backed up the road and parked on the low shoulder.

She didn't respond as we hid in the tree line out of view from the house. She fumbled around in her purse, snatching her cell from within it's depths. Her fingers shook as she tapped away at the screen.

"Felix! The nurse called me to the school to pick up Bella. No, Kate's fine. Bella has a stomach virus. That's not why I'm calling, Felix. You need to get down to Renee's house now! I'm not playing, stop what you're doing and get down here now!" she hollered frantically in the phone, ignoring my confused expression. "You won't believe whose truck is sitting in her driveway as we speak. Hurry up! I'm too scared to drive back down there!" The frantic, concerned voice of my father's younger brother drifted from the speakers of the phone. "I swear it looks like James Cullen's truck! Just _hurry_!"

She ended the call, dropping the phone in her lap. She shoved a thumb in her mouth chewing away at the nail, as she shot me a distressed look.

A knot of dread formed in my stomach. There was a Cullen in my driveway. My stomach began to roll again, but it wasn't from the virus this time. _There was only one reason for a Cullen being at my house_, I thought, an image of my father flashed through my mind. My poor mother...what if she was dead? No matter how much I resented her, I'd never wish any harm on her.

We sat silently in the truck parked in the tall grass growing along side the road. Something in the expression on Maggie's face told me not to mention the truck or my mother. Her face was stark white and her pink lips stretched across her face in a worried frown. My stomach continued to roll as we sat in the increasingly warm vehicle. Sweat beaded across my forehead and I switched the air conditioner on a higher setting.

Uncle Felix's antique, red, Chevy truck eventually breezed past us on the road. Its engine chugged loudly as he pulled into the driveway like gangbusters. Maggie immediately followed, pulling behind him. I anxiously watched the back of his curly head through the back glass as he cut the engine and jumped out of the truck.

Felix wore a plaid shirt with the sleeves ripped off. His thick arms shone with sweat and the jeans he wore were practically white with concrete dust. He wore the same handsome, rugged features of all the Swan men: dark hair and big, doleful eyes.

I slid out of the truck, falling in place beside my aunt who leaned against the hood of her vehicle, her hands wringing together anxiously. My heart hammered against my chest as I watched Felix climb the small concrete walkway that led up to the lake house. He tried to open the front door without luck.

"Do you have your keys?" Maggie asked, anxiously.

Nodding, I fished them from my pocket and handed them to her. She crossed the distance between the vehicle and where Felix stood, tossing the keys into his hands before returning to me. Felix slid the correct key in the doorknob before disappearing inside the house. Maggie and I stood for what seemed an enormous amount of time before we both jumped at the sound of breaking glass and shouting drifting out the front door.

We both gasped in astonishment as Uncle Felix shoved a man, much smaller in size, through the open door. The man fell to the ground with an 'oomph' beside the walkway, landing beneath the tall pine and oak trees that surrounded the house. The man was blonde with sharp features and was probably quite handsome, if not for his busted lip and rapidly swelling right eye. The man struggled to stand, his white shirt smeared with dirt and broken leaves. Felix descended the small set of steps that led to the front door, his dusty boots hitting the sidewalk as he made his way to where the man now stood. Felix slugged him in the face and I watched in horror as his head snapped around, his green eyes flashing briefly to where Maggie and I stood clutching one another and trembling. The man managed to stay on two feet and then flung himself at my uncle, wrestling him to the ground. They began exchanging punches, kicks, and curses as they fought, and I yanked my cell from my pocket with the full intention of calling the police.

That's when my mother emerged from the house, her auburn curls in disarray as she ran screaming down the small steps. Her big, hazel eyes were wide in fright at the sight of the two men duking it out in front of her house. The white hospital scrubs she wore were wrinkled and it did not escape my notice that the top she wore was on backwards. The pale, red lipstick she normally wore was smeared across her face, trailing all the way to her neck.

"Felix! Stop right now before you kill James! Just let me explain!" she hollered, grabbing at my uncle.

He flung her easily off him. I cried out as she gasped and fell into the flower bed, full of the same flowers she planted while my father was still alive. The black soil ruined her white uniform as she lay sprawled out in the flowerbed, unmoving except for her eyes which starred worriedly up at my uncle.

"Mama!" I called out in tears, my stomach rolling yet again.

Maggie held me back as I attempted to dart forward, her hands gripped firmly on my arms. I struggled against her uselessly as my mother lay on the ground in shock.

"Explain what, Renee? How I just found you fucking a Cullen?" he growled. He stood and pulled the smaller man up with him before slamming his fist into the other guy's jaw, sending him spiraling to the ground. Felix left the man where he lay, turning and walking over to my mother, and hovering over her trembling frame. Felix pointed one beefy finger at her.

"How _could_ you? How could you do that to my brother, in the house he built for you and your family? He's dead because of these fuckers! And you let one_ between your legs_? You're a filthy whore!"

Pressing my fingers to my ears, I tried to drown out my uncle's words because they weren't true. My mother would never do that to my daddy. She'd never let a Cullen touch her. Not my mother. No way. She'd never betray the memory of my father by sleeping with someone who was his possible _murderer_. But the words ran through my mind on a loop, forever embedded there as I watched the now soundless argument between my uncle and my mother continue.

The blonde man, whose name I found out was James, scooted backwards on his ass against the dirt, springing up and darting to his truck. Wrenching the door open he leaned inside, momentarily disappearing as my family continued to squabble. The man emerged with a sawed-off shotgun clutched between his long, elegant fingers.

"No!" I cried, dropping my hands from my ears.

My aunt froze beside me. The man flinched, his eyes darting to mine briefly as he cocked the gun. He spat blood from his mouth, the bright red liquid splattering against the concrete driveway, cracked and slightly crumbling from the years of heat it endured. Felix turned at stared at James, his eyes narrowing angrily at the man holding the gun.

"You let Renee alone, you hear?" James said, holding the gun to one side, aimed at my uncle. "If I find out you hurt her, I'll come back and I swear I'll rid the earth of all you Swan scum."

"You broke some major rules, Cullen," Felix sneered, ignoring the man's words. "The first rule you broke was crossing that river. The second one was touching one of our women. And you know the rule about involving children." Felix's eyes drifted to where I stood paralyzed in fear.

"Renee's not a Swan, at least not anymore," James argued. "And her daughter is hardly a child. But you're right about crossing the boundaries. I did that shit. What are you gonna do about it, Felix?"

"Since the rules mean nothing to you, how about all rules are off the table from now on?" Felix suggested in a menacing tone, in a voice that implied he wasn't making any negotiations. "That means Aro, Marcus, Alec, and I can cross that bridge and do business in Birchwood anytime we want. And if you find a Swan boy in your daughter's bed...there's nothing you can do about it. How does that sound, James?"

"I think it's a good thing I have a son and not a daughter," James laughed, placing the safety back on the gun and tossing it in the passenger seat as he slid in beside the wheel. "My brother's kid is taking over the business in a couple of years. He'll love to find out he's allowed in Mayhaw. There's something that he just_ adores_ about Mayhaw."

He said those last words as he glanced my way, smirking in amusement at the confused frown on my face. The grin he wore was tinged pink with blood from his busted mouth. Laughing, he slammed the door and cranked the car, slamming on the gas, and swerving around the vehicles. The same huge grin was on his face as he expertly peeled backwards out of the drive. The sound of the loud, diesel engine roared as he sped down the country road before eventually fading away.

"You are no longer considered family, Renee," Felix told my mother quietly as she raised herself from the flowerbed in her stained, white scrubs. Tears streaked down her cheeks, mascara trailing down from her eyes.

"You're dead to me now," he scoffed, spitting on the ground near where she stood before turning to me. "Isabella, nothing that happened here today changes the way I feel about you and Alice. This is not your fault, in any shape or form. You're my brother's child, now and forever...but you mother is no longer family. Maggie, let's go." Felix shot my aunt a glance before opening the door to his antique Chevy and sliding inside.

My aunt gave me a sad smile and hugged me tightly, muttering, "Feel better, baby." She shot my mother a murderous glare and entered her truck as well.

Stepping off the pavement, I stood beside the driveway and silently watched them leave, tugging on a lock of my hair in distress. There was a long, bloated silence as I stood there staring down the long, empty driveway. The tall pines cast shadows along the cracked pavement.

My mother breathed heavily behind me. Twigs and leaves scattered to the ground crunching beneath her feet as she shifted in place. She was the first to break the thick, heavy silence.

"What are you doing home so early?" she suddenly snapped, her angry voice causing me to turn to her in surprise.

She crossed the distance between us, glaring at me in accusation. Grabbing my shoulders she began shaking me violently as she screamed.

"This is your fault! You're just like your father! Always causing trouble! Charlie Swan! That's what I should call you...Charlie Swan!" she screamed, her hazel eyes flashing in hatred. She shook me so hard my teeth clattered in my mouth.

"It's not my fault!" I cried as she continued to shake me. "I got sick at school! I was too weak to drive home!"

"Why didn't they call me?" she snapped, dropping her hands from my shoulders and planting her hands on her hips. "I'm your mother! They should call me first!"

"I thought you were at work, not at home screwing a Cullen!" I yelled back, suddenly overcome with anger.

I winced as my mother slapped me across my face with her open palm. My head reeled back and I clasped my stinging cheek in shock. My mother never hit me before, aside from the usual spankings I had as a child. My mother's words were her normal form of abuse against me. Turning my head, I met her vengeful hazel eyes.

"I'm tired of you sassing me! Every time you talk back, that's what you're gonna get...a slap in the mouth. You're nothing but a smart-ass teenager, thinking you know everything! Why can't you be more like Alice? At least she doesn't talk back to me all the time!" she spat.

"No, Alice doesn't talk back. She's too busy getting messed up on anything she can get her hands on to talk back to anyone!" I screamed as my mother's eyes narrowed on me. "Is that what you want me to do? Who's gonna make sure there's food in the fridge or clean the house if I'm drugged up all the time like my sister? You want me to stay incoherent so you can run around screwing James Cullen? Is that what you're out doing while I'm taking care of things around here?"

"Who I spend my time with is my business, not Felix's or Maggie's, and certainly not yours! And you won't say shit about it to me or I'll knock the teeth out of your head!" she screamed, slapping me one last time to emphasize her point.

The force of the blow knocked me to the ground, and I lay there as she walked away, muttering about my dead father as she stomped up the short steps. She flung open the door, slamming it behind her as she went.

A few minutes later she emerged from the house, but I refused to look her way. I heard her mutter something about an extended lunch break and the need to get back to the hospital before she left in her small, red sports car. The car was fitting for her. She was too old to be driving it, but pretty enough to get away with it.

The urge to vomit finally took over. I rolled over and crawled across the ground, leaning over my mother's beloved flower bed and hurling across her pretty flowers. Good. I'm glad they were covered in puke. My stomach eventually settled and I crawled back to my spot on the ground, laying on my back and staring up at the rays of light that filtered through the branches and leaves above me.

That's where Alice found me sometime later. I heard the unmistakable sound of my Jeep veering down the driveway. She parked directly in front of me, abandoning the nearby garage. No one ever used it anyway. It was full of Daddy's junk, our old ski-boat that hadn't been used in a hundred years, and two jet-skis.

Alice hopped out of the Jeep, as her knock-off designer heels clicked against the pavement. My sister dressed to fit her mood, and apparently her mood was fiery-hot today. She wore red heels, tight, black pants and a matching red shirt that flowed on her tiny frame. Her long, black hair was braided intricately around her head, looking like a halo of sorts. Alice really was a beautiful creature, but that day her face was marred in worry as she hovered above me.

"What the hell happened to you?" she asked, glancing at my disheveled appearance before bending over and plucking a leaf from my hair.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you," I muttered, as she carefully perched on the ground beside me, staring deeply into my eyes.

"Try me," she said, raising one carefully constructed eyebrow.

Heaving a great sigh, I began telling her about the strange afternoon, starting with becoming sick during gym and ending with our mother's aggressive behavior. Leaving out no details, I watched as the blood drained from my sister's face and her mouth fell open in shock.

"Mama's screwing a Cullen. I can't believe it," she whispered, shaking her head, a disgusted look on her face. "It's like she's pissing on our Daddy's grave. I'm through with her, I tell ya. I'm done. She's never been much of a mother to us anyway. _You're_ more of a mother to me than she is."

"I'm sorry for what I said, about you staying messed up all the time," I apologized, confessing my angry words to her. She gave me a wavering smile as she swallowed and stared out across our lake, her expression dark.

"I'm sorry for what happened," she whispered, wrapping a skinny arm around my shoulders as I leaned into her. "I'm sorry I wasn't here for you. Why don't you go upstairs and take a shower. I know just the thing to make you feel better!"

I stared at her suspiciously, her angry look now replaced with a small smile. A shower sounded glorious, so I agreed, trudging upstairs to the bathroom that Alice and I shared. After letting the shower work out the tension in my neck and shoulders, I dried off with a large towel and slipped on my favorite worn concert t-shirt and gray cotton shorts. I was sitting on my bed brushing the knots out of my hair when Alice entered the room with a mischievous grin on her tiny face. Throwing the brush back on my vanity, I gave her a questioning glance. Her hands were behind her back.

"Bella, I'd like to introduce you to my friends," she announced, holding out a pint of our favorite ice cream in one hand, two spoons already shoved deep in it's chocolaty depths. "This is Ben and Jerry. But I've got one more friend for you to meet."

I took the ice cream from her hands while she reached into a pocket and produced a clear baggie, full off dark green weed.

"This is my friend, Reggie. Reggie, this is Bella," she told the bag of weed in a serious tone, gesturing toward where I sat on the bed.

"Alice, I'm not smoking weed. I never have and I never will," I told her, shaking my head indigently as I shoved a spoonful of ice cream in my mouth and moaned. Screw Reggie! I loved both Ben and Jerry!

"I know you don't smoke, you judgmental whore, but listen to me for just a second," she said, plopping down on the bed beside me, ignoring my glare as she opened the bag. The smell of weed immediately found it's way to my nose, which I wrinkled in disgust. "Reggie is here, willing to be your best friend. He'll never be too busy to listen to you. You can have him whenever you want. He'll never mistreat you or do you wrong. And he'll make you feel so good. Way better than that train Ben and Jerry is running on you right now."

She ignored my protests. Alice left the room momentarily only to return with a pineapple flavored cigar and a pink and white cameo brooch that once belonged to our great-grandmother. Alice popped open the metal pin on the brooch and cut a long slit across the cigar, dumping the tobacco into the wastebasket near my desk. I'd seen people break open the cigars with their hands, but for some weird reason Alice liked cutting them open with our great-grandmother's beloved jewelry. Sitting cross-legged on my bed Alice rolled the weed expertly in the cigar, licking the edge and pressing it together as she finished.

Rolling my eyes, I dropped the carton of ice cream on my desk, wrenching open the sliding glass doors that led out to my tiny balcony overlooking the lake. A fat, white moon hung over the lake signaling the late hour, and I wondered vaguely when our psychotic mother would return home.

Alice joined me outside, sitting across from me on one of the two plastic chairs I kept there. She used her favorite lighter, the one I got her on her last birthday, to seal the blunt, running the flame along the outside of the cigar. The lighter was a rainbow of tie-dyed colors and she loved it. It'd probably been refilled with butane at least a dozen times since I bought it for her.

Alice took a deep drag, holding the smoke in her lungs forever before finally releasing it between pursed lips.

"That's so much better," she breathed dramatically, wagging her eyebrows up and down, leaning back in the chair.

I rolled my eyes, hesitating as she took another drag and offered me the blunt.

"Come on, Bella," she joked lightly, blowing the smoke out of her nostrils. "Everyone is doing it."

"You're the poster child for peer pressure," I sighed, an internal debate waging in my mind.

What could it hurt to try it just once? Reaching out, taking the blunt awkwardly in my hands, I made myself a silent, solemn vow; I'd smoke this one time, and never again.

Alice suddenly sat up, excited at the prospect of her stiff, older sister getting high with her. Her brown eyes were shining as I brought the blunt up to my lips. Alice began babbling about only taking a small drag, instructing me to not inhale the first few times. Ignoring her, I pressed the blunt to my lips and took a small amount of the pungent smoke into my mouth and lungs. I held it as long as I could before slowly letting it escape, shocked that I didn't cough or get choked up. I'd never smoked a cigarette, let alone weed before. Alice laughed at the expression on my face, instructing me to take another drag. I did and then passed the blunt to her. She had a satisfying grin on her face the entire time we smoked. It didn't take very long to find out why my little sister loved drugs so much.

Everything was funny. I laughed at the expression on Alice's face as she talked...about what? I don't know. Alice told stories with great gusto and I watched as her hands flew around dramatically, her eyes growing wild during her tale.

A bird was perched in a tree nearby and began making some pretty annoying sounds with his throat. There was a book laying nearby that I'd been reading. I nearly fell off the balcony in my attempt to murder the poor bird with the tales of Edgar Allen Poe, the pages fluttering violently as the book fell to the ground below. For some reason this was hilarious, and we fell off our chairs onto the tiny balcony in laughter.

We took turns yelling 'fuck you' to the lake, laughing as the sound bounced off the surface and echoed through the dark woods. We finished off the melted ice cream sharing the same spoon after one of them mysteriously disappeared, something I wouldn't do if I were sober.

Alice eventually passed out in my bed, her tiny body somehow producing the loudest snores I'd ever heard in my life.

Creeping outside, the effects of the weed slowly fading away, my forgotten worries began creeping back into my brain from where they hid just below the surface. As I leaned on the balcony rail, my face tilted toward the moon, my mind flashed back to the events of the day; my uncle finding my mother with a Cullen, the fighting, and the threats. I remembered the things James Cullen said about his nephew. Was he talking about Edward?

Yes, I still remembered Edward Cullen, the handsome little twelve-year old boy from the funeral home. The past four years I'd thought of him almost obsessively, sketching his face in my sketch book, his green eyes haunting me in my dreams. The vast amount of time I spent daydreaming about him was absurd, but I couldn't help wondering what happened to him after all those years. Who was he? Was he still that same, sweet boy who handed me a bouquet of white lilies at my father's funeral? Was he happy with his lot in life?

As I stared up at the big, white moon hanging above the lake, I wondered if Edward Cullen were anything like me. Was he unhappy with the way things were or the family he was born into? Or did he soak up the attention, like so many of my cousins did, using it to his advantage? Maybe he was like Emmett, taking full advantage of the girls who relished his bad boy image. Did he ever get kicked while he was down? If I were lucky I'd never find out, because as pathetic as my life may be, I valued it far too much to get involved with a Cullen.

Or so I thought.

* * *

Mad props to my Beta **AliCat0623** who...loves...to...see...each...ellipsis...that...I...make. She, also, doesn't, care, that, I'm, a, coma, whore. Love ya girl!


	3. Chapter 3: Swan's Sweet Confections

_Previously, in Chapter Two..._

_As I stared up at the big, white moon hanging above the lake, I wondered if Edward Cullen were anything like me. Was he unhappy with the way things were or the family he was born into? Or did he soak up the attention, like so many of my cousins did, using it to his advantage? Maybe he was like Emmett, taking full advantage of the girls who relished his bad boy image. Did he ever get kicked while he was down? If I were lucky I'd never find out, because as pathetic as my life may be, I valued it far too much to get involved with a Cullen._

_Or so I thought._

* * *

_"The greatest thing in family life is to take a hint when a hint is intended - and not take a hint when a hint is not intended."_

_~Robert Frost~_

**Chapter Three: Swan's Sweet Confections**

_**Bella Swan, age 18**_

My mother and I never got along after the day she was caught with James Cullen. After about two days of hiding out at a friend's house in shame, she finally came home. When she returned, Alice really let her have it.

My sister had three levels that she ran on: high, medium, and low. There was no in-between when it came to my sister and her mood swings.

Alice screamed at our mother, calling her everything but a Christian woman of God, as she threw anything she got her hands on; books, magazines, nick-knacks, and Mama's angel collection went flying. It all faced the wrath of Mary Alice Swan. There was no stopping Alice when she went on a tirade, so I knew best to not interfere. Plus, she just had her nails done and those were some really long,_ sharp _motherfuckers. Alice told my mother the same things that she told me; I was more of a mother to her than Mama'd ever been. My mother hung her head in false shame as she shuffled quietly past me up the stairs to hole up in her room.

My mother didn't attack Alice the way she attacked me. Mama simply stood there and cried, glaring at me in accusation from where I sat on the stairway watching everything go down.

Alice holed up in her room as well. We didn't see hide nor hair of her for two days until I finally pried opened the door to find my tiny sister, naked as the day she was born. Her body trembled in a corner of the room while she stared blankly up at the ceiling. She was in the midst one of her breakdowns and mumbled quietly about someone following her.

It was with a heavy sigh that I pulled her to her feet. I ignored the stinky pile of vomit that covered the lower part of her body as I carried her to the shower. After I helped her in, she quivered as the warm water washed over her. Alice fell to the floor of the shower and drew her knees up to her chest as she rocked back and forth in a fetal position. Alice's eyes were fixed and void of emotion as she mumbled incoherently. I joined her in the shower fully clothed. I grabbed one of her limp, wet hands and clasped it firmly with my own as I whispered comforting words to her.

Alice had pretty much abandoned weed for more serious, dangerous drugs over the years, mostly uppers. This made it difficult to determine if her episode was an effect of the drugs or if she were simply having one of the many breakdowns she'd had since she was a small child. I begged her to tell me if she was on something, but she said nothing until I mentioned pumping her stomach again. That seemed to snap her out of the wonderland where she dwelled. Standing on two, slippery legs, she hollered about nasal tubes and charcoal, darting out of the shower and face planting on the giant flower-shaped rug on the bathroom floor. As I chased after her, I grabbed one slick foot before she wiggled out of my grasp and disappeared behind her bedroom door. The sound of her heavy dresser being shoved against the opposite side of the door caused me to give up my feeble attempt to capture her.

"What's going on?" my mother asked wearily as she stumbled from her bedroom. Her blurry eyes squinted against the bright hallway lights.

"I think you need to send Alice back to Behavioral Health," I whispered, still angry with my mother, but knowing she was the key to helping my sister get healthy. "I can't tell if it's Alice anymore or the drugs making her act the way she does."

"Your sister is fine. She's just an emotional person. She's like me that way," my mother said carelessly, running her tired fingers through her short, auburn curls.

I felt my face grow redder and redder at my mother's denial of my sister's state of mind.

"Mama, she goes days without sleeping. She's always paranoid, talking about someone following her around when no one's there," I said. "Last week she jumped in the lake while I was gone to the store, and she swam lap after lap. She knows she's not supposed to swim in the lake or pool when no one is here. What if she got a cramp again? She might drown next time!"

"Bella, your sister is energetic...and a tad eccentric. Geniuses are eccentric. You should stop being so jealous of her. It's very unbecoming of a young lady," my mother muttered, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"I'm_ jealous_ of her? Mama, I just found her naked in a pool of her own vomit. That's only after she didn't come out of her bedroom for two days. Now she has the dresser shoved in front of the door to barricade me out. And you call that _eccentric_?"

"What do you suggest, Dr. Swan?" my mother asked. She stripped off her pajamas and kicked them to the corner of the bathroom, right where they'd stay until I took them to the wash. "Don't you think I'd know if something was really wrong with Alice? I'm a nurse, Bella. I mean, I know you_ think _you know_ everything_, but you don't. Clearly."

"Mama, I don't know everything but I do have a pretty good memory," I said, tapping my temple as my mother waddled into the bathroom and turned the shower on. "And if I remember correctly, the last time Alice was admitted into Behavioral Health, the doctor diagnosed her with bipolar disorder. Remember, Mama? She was on those pills for a while and they really helped her."

"That doctor is a quack!" my mother hissed, glaring at me as she held onto the wooden door. "I'm not putting Alice on those pills again. She acted like a zombie. There's nothing wrong with her. End of discussion!"

Mama slammed the door in my face, and the heavy wood painfully bumped the end of my short nose. I rubbed at it frantically, growing angry, and kicked the door with my bare foot. Damn I hated that woman!

Our arguments increased over the next couple of years. I began to wonder if she'd secretly be happy that I would soon turn eighteen. Maybe she'd kick me out of our home and onto the streets. Nah, my family wouldn't let that happen. She'd be dead before she kicked me out on the streets. She was lucky that Aro only disowned her from the Swan family. Things could have been so much worse; at least he didn't kill her. I remembered his words back at the church. If he ever caught me messing with a Cullen he'd kill me himself. My uncle was a scary man, and also a man of his word. As much as he loved me like his own child, I didn't doubt he'd end my life if there were any chance that I was mixed up with a Cullen.

As it turns out, she didn't kick me out. She left herself.

Over the years she'd thrown herself more and more into her job, spending massive amounts of time away from Alice and I. The year I became a senior in high school my mother announced that she found a new, higher paying job at a hospital in Birmingham, Alabama. It was a two hour drive one way from where we lived.

Horror overcame me at the thoughts of uprooting my life and spending my senior year of high school in a huge school, in an unfamiliar city. My worries were unfounded. My mother dropped an even bigger bombshell; she never even planned on taking us with her.

"_Bella _is eighteen now. And you girls keep making it very clear how you don't need me since_ Bella _does everything around here," my mother told us one night as we sat in a semi-circle on the couches and chairs in the living room.

I stared through the sliding glass doors at the lake outside. It was a still night, not a ripple broke the surface of the water.

"A friend of mine from nursing school lives in Birmingham," my mother confessed, wrinkling her nose at the smell of food I had cooking on the stove.

She never did like fried cabbage...which is exactly why I cooked it once a week. Over the years it'd become my job to cook, although most of the time Renee bitched about the things I chose to prepare. Cabbage really did stink, but it was a smell worth enduring if it meant getting some kind of attention from my mother, even if it were negative attention.

"I'll just stay with my friend while I'm there," she shrugged while she avoided the glance Alice and I shot one another. "I'm working a seven day on, seven day off schedule, so I'll be home to see you every other week." Smiling at us, her eyes twinkled with a happiness that I hadn't see in a long time.

I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat at the sight of that smile. The thought of Alice and I spending every night home alone was somewhat worrisome, but Renee's happiness meant everything to me, so I simply nodded in response. We were home alone most of the time already, although not for a week at a time. I'd agree to just about anything as long as we got our mother back, our mother who spent time baking cookies with us and building sandcastles on the small beach area our daddy constructed for us near the lake.

She left us that summer before my senior year and Alice's junior year; her red sports car was packed to the gills with her belongings. Giving a childlike squeal, she hugged Alice and I so tight that she knocked the wind from our lungs. After a kiss on our cheeks and a mumbled 'I love you' that I hadn't heard in years, she was gone.

We stood on the wooden deck that spanned out across the front yard, staring at the deserted road that ran in front of my house until the sun sank in the horizon. The sky burst into swirls of reds, blues, pinks, and orange as the sun sank past the lake, bringing a heron blue light with it. The soulful sounds of crickets and whippoorwills sang from the trees that surrounded the property. Alice and I eventually wandered inside the house where we both collapsed on the massive, soft leather couch and fell asleep beside one another, just as we'd done as children.

Two lonely, teenage girls, with multiple daddy issues can be a very dangerous thing when left to their own devices. Unfortunately, I became one of the stereotypes. It wasn't my fault...not really.

There's just something about a good, southern boy that drives me crazy. I loved them all, shirtless and tan, plowing a field with his daddy's tractor. I loved them sitting on the banks of a lake casting out a line. I loved them sitting in front of a crackling fire, picking a tune on an acoustic guitar. I loved them covered in camouflage, holding a long, sleek rifle, strolling through the pines. Just the thought of these good old boys drove me crazy with lust. It was like the hormones just kicked in one day and didn't quit.

Unfortunately, Mayhaw was a very small town, full of old-biddies who loved nothing more than to gossip. Kids around here are very careful with their hook-ups. If you had sex, it seemed as though everyone already knew it before you even had time to pull your drawers up. That's why, when you need a little physical release, you do it with someone from out of town. And you use an alias. My alias was Marie. You should also have an accomplice when pulling these stunts, and mine happened to be my cousin Kate.

Now, I don't mean to sound like a whore or anything, cause I wasn't. I was still carrying my V-card proudly. But that's not to say I hadn't done everything_ but _the dirty deed. My alter-ego sometimes found a willing participant, being the dirty whore that she was, but actually having sex was one thing I planned on waiting for. They say you always remember your first, and I didn't want to remember some nameless guy grunting on top of me in the backseat of his crappy truck for the rest of my life.

It was summertime, and I'd spent my days working at my grandmother's cake shop, surrounding myself in swirls of frosting and the scent of buttercream icing. A girl could really lose herself after working in a bakery for a while. All those cupcakes, petit fours and cookies...it could be anyone's downfall, and there was a fat girl hiding inside of me dying to get out.

I licked my lips and swirled icing from a bag with a star tip, topping a chocolate cupcake with the thick, buttery, chocolate icing before I placed it inside a deep box. Closing the lid with a sigh, I brought the box out to the front of the store where a short, stocky woman with a huge grin stood in front of the cash register, debit card already in hand. Alice rang her up and thanked her, and the woman shuffled out of the store, one finger already pulling the tab opening the box.

"I hate working the register," Alice muttered dejectedly from where she leaned against the countertop.

"Yeah, but you're temporarily banned from cake decorating," I reminded her.

I walked over to the shelves full of waiting cakes behind the counter and glanced at the order forms taped to the side. There were several to be picked up that day.

"I swear, I screw up one kid's fifth birthday cake and y'all act like I committed an unforgivable sin!" she cried, perking up as the bell rang over the door. She plastered a fake grin on her small face and chatted in a friendly tone to the woman and small child who entered the store.

I removed a large cake from the shelf, carefully sat it on the counter, and popped the lid open for the woman to view. After a smile of approval, she murmured her thanks, paid Alice, and took the cake. The little boy grinned up at me, missing his two front teeth. I giggled at his cute face as they disappeared through the door. Alice immediately began to whine again, the friendly look now gone as she slumped lazily against the counter.

"You made him a titty cake, Alice," I reminded her with a raised eyebrow as Kate appeared from the back room.

The pink apron Kate wore was coated in a fine dusting of confectioner's sugar, and she grinned at the mention of the infamous fifth birthday titty cake.

"It's not my fault I can't read your chicken scratch!" Alice moaned as she picked at her long, red nails.

"How do you misread 'Happy Fifth Birthday, Trevor!'?" I asked as I threw my hands up in disgust as I began to rearrange the display of lollipops on top of the counter.

"I thought it said 'draw titties' on it...I didn't know you wanted me to draw 'kitties' on it. I thought maybe it was for some pervy old man or something! What five year old boy wants a kitten on his birthday cake?" she hissed. Alice scooted off the stool and glared at me as she crossed her arms. "Boys like dump trucks and tractors on their cakes, not kittens. If you ask me, I was doing that kid a favor. He needed to man up a little bit."

"Please, Alice. Just admit it. You were lost in la-la land and didn't pay attention to what Bella wrote on the order slip," Kate laughed as she dusted her hands off on the bright pink apron.

"I forgive you though. The look on Nana's face! I thought Nana was having a heart attack that day," she said with a grin. "And that mother! She hit you over the head with her umbrella! That was a good day."

Kate smiled in amusement just as we heard a crashing sound from the back of the store.

We all cringed and glanced through the doorway into the back room to find our Nana struggling through the door with an armload of pans. A couple fell to the ground and I scrambled around my cousin and sister to help our grandmother.

"Come help an old woman out!" Nana hollered as even more pans clattered to the floor.

I snatched a few up and tossed them into the large, nearby sink. She stumbled, slightly off-balance as she made her way to the sink and dropped the rest of the pans into it as well.

"Are you still alive, you old bag?" Kate asked when she entered the room and raised one eyebrow at our grandmother.

Nana turned, glared at her, and shoved her thin glasses up her nose. Her blue eyes were burning holes in Kate's skull. Kate looked unfazed as she evenly met Nana's glare.

"Well, look who it is!" my grandmother cooed in a sugary sweet voice. "My sweet little grandwhore, I mean, granddaughter."

I sighed at their antics, turned to the sink, and rinsed the pans with a small smile on my face. My grandmother and Kate loved digging at one another.

"It's good to see you too, Crypt Keeper! How are things down at the cemetery?" Kate asked while she reached out and pinched Nana's cheek. Nana pulled away from her fingers with a scowl.

"Oh, pretty dead. How's things down at the whore house?" Nana quipped with an evil smile, her slightly wrinkled face alight in amusement.

"Everything is pretty_ fucking_ awesome at the whorehouse, Grandmother. Although the weather has been pretty_ wet_ and_ slippery. _It makes for some pretty_ long_ and_ hard _times. Hopefully, everything will _come together_..._in the end_," Kate told her in a serious tone.

They stared at one another for a long time, serious expressions on their faces before they both burst into fits of laughter, twin tears rolling down their cheeks.

"Why wasn't I born into a normal family?" I muttered as I shook my head in disgust, although I couldn't hide the small smile that played on my lips.

Kate laughed and left the room to return to her cake decorating. Her long blonde hair swished from side to side as walked away.

"Oh, normal is so overrated," Nana huffed. She grabbed the pans and dried them with a clean dishtowel. "And uninteresting. Who wants to be boring and uninteresting? Not me, that's for sure."

I watched my grandmother as she dried the pans, her black hair curled to perfection, the smell of her weekly perm and dye job lingering in the air. Nana never left the house without 'her face on,' which is what she called her makeup. Her lips were painted a pretty, deep red that she pulled off flawlessly. Nana was beautiful in her old age, but the black and white photos of her as a child were breathtaking. She and Alice could have been twins in their youth.

"I think it'd be nice to know what normal feels like," I admitted, drying my hands off after handing her the last pan.

"Honey, you're my favorite grandchild," she whispered in a hushed tone as she glanced over my shoulder to where Kate stood, swirling icing on a round cake, seemingly oblivious to our conversation. "You're smart and you'll make it far in this life, but you're too uptight. I also know you don't read between the lines or take hints very well, so I'm just gonna lay it all on the table. Bella, you need to get laid. And you need to do it soon."

My cheeks heated up at her words. Gah! If only the people in this town knew how Nana Swan spoke behind closed doors! She certainly wasn't the ideal Christian woman that people made her out to be!

"I can hear you Nana," Kate called over her shoulder, apparently not as oblivious as I thought. "You tell all of us we're your favorite grandchild, so don't go pulling that shit on Bella. Plus, Bella's never gonna get laid. She's waiting on Mr. Right."

Kate snorted sarcastically as she finished her rant and placed the icing bag on the rack above her head.

"I'm not looking for Mr. Right," I argued while I followed Nana into the room where Kate stood, washing the rapidly drying confectioners sugar from her hands.

"And I'm not uptight. I like having fun just as much as anybody."

Kate wiped her clean hands off with some paper towels, tossed them in the trash and rolled her eyes.

Nana and I followed Kate to the cash register where Alice just finished with another customer. The woman exited the store and left us to our own devices. I shoved Alice from the stool and stole her spot. She glared at me, disappeared into the back and returned with her own stool. With her head high, she plopped down on it and ignored the devious smile I shot her.

The bell above the door rang and we all turned to watch our cousin Emmett trump through, wearing one of his stupid zombie shirts. Emmett was somewhat obsessed with the zombie apocalypse and believed it a real possibility in the future. Massive amounts of his time were dedicated to online chatting with other psychos who shared the same belief. He even stocked his parent's basement full of canned and dried food.

Today his shirt read, 'Brains, Num, Num, Num' and had a poorly drawn picture of a zombie holding gobs of brains in his tattered hands, the vile pink matter oozing from the zombie's mouth. I shook my head in disappointment at the mere sight of my cousin.

"Oh, it's my favorite grandchild!" Nana cooed as she slid around the counter to hug my giant cousin.

She pinched his dimpled cheeks and peppered them with kisses. Emmett grinned, eating up the attention as we all groaned and rolled our eyes.

Nana called us a herd of jealous bitches before she plopped down at the small table that held photo albums full of cake photographs. She flipped lazily through pages and pages of cakes we'd decorated over the years.

"What were y'all talking about?" Emmett asked.

Emmett made his way around the glass display case, pulled it open, and removed an orange petit four. He removed the wrapper from the bottom and tossed the confection in his mouth. Emmett closed his eyes and moaned in pleasure. His thick lashes fluttered dramatically.

"Y'all had these weird expressions on your faces when I walked in," he said.

"We were just discussing how Bella never gets laid," Kate laughed. She flinched as I jabbed her in the ribs with my sharp elbow. "I swear, we need to find a party out of town. I'm needing a release, if you know what I mean."

"I do know what you mean," Emmett told her with a frown. He grabbed a cookie and licked the icing from the top. "I'm tired of screwing the same five whores."

"Me too," I joked, shocking everyone as they stared at me

"Thumbellina and her four sisters," I elaborated, wiggling my fingers.

"Ew!" Alice squealed and gagged as she shoved me off the stool.

I laughed and rolled my eyes just as the bell jangled over the door again. We straightened up and gave our new customers dazzling, innocent smiles. Emmett grinned at one of the slightly overweight teenagers, who blushed at his assessment. We all acted like the normal people we weren't as I bagged cookies for the girls and Alice rang up their order. They gave Emmett one last red faced grin as they quietly giggled to one another and vanished through the door.

"That's what I need," he announced, as we all visibly relaxed in our own company. "I need a thick girl. Thick girls are freaks in the sack. And you know that girl knows how to cook. I'll be back."

Emmett trotted out of the store. His smooth, masculine voice hollered out as he followed the two girls down the sidewalk in the old downtown area where our family cake shop was located. Emmett never returned to the store that night, so I assumed he bagged a 'thick chick'.

Business picked up somewhat after that. It was a Friday, after all, and one of the busiest days for cake pickups. Emmett helped Nana deliver cakes sometimes, but there wasn't a lot of weddings or anniversaries going on that weekend. I busied myself passing out cakes and bagging confections as customers continued to pour in while the sun set outside.

Alice continued to grumble and moan morosely that her creative spirit was crushed by her inability to decorate for a few more days. It was Nana's idea to punish her for the birthday cake incident, and I was sure she'd learned her lesson for once.

We were just closing shop when Kate excitedly trotted in from the back room. She grabbed me and pulled me into the bathroom while Alice had her back turned.

"There's a party tonight in Birchwood," she whispered as her blue eyes twinkled.

She pulled the door firmly behind us and waved her cell in the air, indicating the source of said party information. Either someone called, texted, or she read it on Facebook.

"So? You know we can't go to Birchwood," I responded with a roll of my eyes. I wondered why she was trying to keep this a secret from Alice.

"Bella, those rules don't apply anymore," Kate huffed, crossing her arms. Her cell phone was clutched in one hand. "You of all people should know that."

I raised one eyebrow at her insinuation. Her stick-straight blonde hair glowed beneath the hanging light bulb in the bathroom.

"I know they don't apply," I snapped as I tossed my long, brown hair over one shoulder, pissed that she even brought that day up. "But that happened almost two years ago. And no one has seen a Cullen in Mayhaw since your daddy caught James at our house. I'm willing to bet the rest of the Cullens don't even know what went down that day. It's as if it never even happened. If we cross that bridge and get caught, we'll start a war."

"We're not gonna get caught," Kate said, trying to sway me. "Listen, we won't tell anyone. It's just Marie and Cassie tonight."

She beamed a toothy, white grin as she said our aliases.

"We can sneak out after Alice goes to sleep. That way you won't be stuck babysitting her crazy ass at another party," Kate said. "Doesn't that sound like fun, Bella? Let's be someone else tonight, like old times. Please? Pretty Please?"

We always traveled out of town when playing the roles of Marie and Cassie, but never to Birchwood. Kate knew I'd cave. I always did when she used those sad, puppy dog eyes. With a heavy sigh I agreed and she squealed, grabbed my hands and jumped up and down like a pogo stick. I joined her, looking like a moron, but I suddenly felt very excited.

I tried to swallow the knot of doubt that formed in my stomach, and told myself that everything would be alright. What if we ran into a Cullen? What if I were to run into Edward? Would he recognize or remember me? I doubted it. There's a huge change in physical appearance between the ages of twelve and eighteen. Even if we were to run into one another, we'd never know it. I hadn't seen a Cullen besides James since I was a kid, and vice versa. This gave me a small sense of hope that the night wouldn't end in a total disaster.

"There's only one problem," I whispered as Kate grabbed the bathroom doorknob, her eyebrows knotted in confusion. "Alice. She never sleeps."

"Just leave that to me," she whispered with an evil grin.

She opened the door and peeped out. After she designated that the coast was clear, we shuffled out of the bathroom and tried to avoid a suspicious looking Alice who was busily cleaning the glass display case.

"What's up?" Alice asked. She threw the damp cloth over one shoulder and propped one hand on her hip. Her gaze drifted between the two of us. "Why are y'all hiding out in the bathroom?"

"Oh, we weren't hiding out," Kate told her breezily as she slid past her. "Bella just had a wart-looking thing she wanted me to look at, for a second opinion and all."

My face turned red as Alice's eyes grew wide, staring at me in shock.

After an awkward shrug, I passed my sister and followed Kate into the back room. I removed my pink apron and tossed it in the washing machine, right after I smacked her in the back of her stupid, blonde head. Kate chuckled and threw her apron in as well. We told our grandmother goodbye as she shot us a grin and disappeared through the back door of the bakery.

"Hey, Alice! Bella and I were thinking about having a slumber party, like when we were little kids. You, me, Bella, and Makenna. What do you think?" Kate asked.

Kate gave me a lopsided, evil grin and her red lips stretched over her shiny white teeth. The sleepover must be part of her plan.

We heard Alice let out an excited squeal, and she ran into the room hopping around on the balls of her feet.

I rolled my eyes at her enthusiasm and began to close shop, deadbolting the back door. We walked to the front of the shop and flipped off lights. The light pink shop walls became coated in darkness.

"Yay! I love slumber parties! Oh, let me text Kenna right now!" Alice sang in an annoyingly peppy voice.

I pulled the glass door behind us, dug out my keys, and locked it in place. After I cast one last glance into the shop, I turned and watched with some amusement as Alice began texting frantically away. The three of us leaned against my Jeep while Alice talked to Makenna.

Other than the streetlights that began to slowly pop on, the street was dark.

Downtown Mayhaw was a very pretty area, filled with buildings that were constructed in the early 1900s. Some of the same businesses continued to function today, such as Dillan's Drug Store. The town spent a lot of taxpayer money filling the sidewalks with large, stone vases full of colorful flowers that spilled over the sides. There were small trees that dotted the sidewalk and shot up from their small squares of soil. All of the buildings were brick, some different colors than others. Most of them were adjoined, but some, like _Swan's Sweet Confections_, had an alley that ran along side it. That alley really helped Nana with loading cakes into her large, white van when she made deliveries.

"Okay, she's on her way!" Alice sang as she danced in place and swung her hips. "We need some party refreshments, and I'm not talking about chips and dip, girls!"

"I'll take care of that," Kate answered her smoothly, smiling at the grin Alice gave her. "I'll meet y'all at your house in about an hour. Okay?"

She directed the last question to me and I nodded encouragingly.

We parted ways as Kate pulled herself into her ridiculous maroon pickup truck. A sticker of a buck was spread across the back glass, making it look more fit for a man than a ninety-eight pound girl. She fired it up, and the engine rumbled as she pulled out of her parking space and peeled down the road.

Alice and I jumped into the Jeep and drove home. She bounced the entire time and I twirled a long lock of brown hair thoughtfully around one finger.

After we arrived home, Alice began to run around like crazy. She pulled out bags of chips and flipped through our movie and CD collection. It was sad, really, how excited she was at the prospect of a slumber party, and I wondered how Kate planned on getting us out of this whole mess.

Makenna showed up a few minutes later. She was the same age as Alice but resembled me more than my own sister did. Kenna was about an inch shorter than me, around Alice's height, with waist length mahogany hair and deep, chocolate eyes. Kenna always held a bored expression on her face. This annoyed people who didn't know her very well, making them think she was completely uninterested in the things they said to her. The truth was, she was simply high all the time. And that night was no exception.

"What's up, party people?" she said, her eyes half open as they always were, and she yawned and flopped on the couch.

Alice practically fluttered around her, ignoring the way Kenna halfway glared at her cousin.

"Get off your fat ass and help me pick out a movie!" Alice hollered as she grabbed her arm and yanked her from the couch.

Makenna fell off the couch onto her ass, moaning as her bony bottom hit the floor.

"You can help me find my nail polish! We can paint each other's nails!" Alice squealed.

Alice continued to pull on Makenna's arm, ignoring the way Kenna stood and rubbed her sore bottom. Alice pulled her up the stairway.

Kate arrived while they were gone. The pink _Swan's Sweet Confections _shirt was replaced with a sparkly silver tank. She wore a pair of dark wash skinny jeans and brown leather ankle boots. Kate wore her hair stick-straight, and it hung in a shiny blonde curtain down her back. Her face was a sexy, smoky mess with her long lashes curled and blood-red lipstick perfectly painted on.

"I come bearing gifts," she whispered.

Kate pulled a bag from inside her tank where it was tucked neatly in her bra. The bag was rolled up and flopped over as she held it up. I stared incredulously at the weed.

"Is that...Purp?" I asked, shaking my head in shock.

She grinned, shrugged and said, "Why yes, yes it is. A few hits of this and Alice will pass smooth out. Makenna too, at least after the initial effects wear off. You want some?"

"Uh, negative. I wanna have a good time, not die. You know I don't smoke loud. I'll stick with Reggie," I said. "That stuff's not gonna hurt Alice or Makenna, is it?"

"Bella, Alice and Makenna can eat ten pounds of rat poison _a piece _and it won't faze them," Kate responded with a roll of her pretty blue eyes.

She lowered herself in front of the coffee table, crossing her legs beneath her as she began rolling a fatty. I sat beside her and removed my own blunt from the King Edward box hidden in a drawer under the coffee table. I lit up and took a deep drag closing my eyes as I held it in.

Yeah, I'd turned into an recreational pothead from the very first day Alice encouraged me to smoke with her, breaking one of many promises I'd made to myself over the years. It helped me relax and forget things even if just for a little while. I smoked the entire thing before Alice and Makenna even made it downstairs.

"Wow, thanks for waiting on us!" Alice huffed sarcastically as she dropped her large makeup bag on the coffee table.

"I thought we'd give each other makeovers!" she cheered annoyingly.

Makenna landed easily beside her and groaned at Alice's enthusiasm. Kate finally lit her blunt and they passed it around. I laughed when Makenna accused Alice of babysitting, which she was. Alice scowled and handed her the blunt. Kate took very small drags and did her best to avoid bringing attention to that fact.

"This is the good stuff, man," Makenna mused while she blew smoke rings expertly in the air.

Kate and Alice murmured in approval. I leaned back on the floor against the couch, shut my eyes, and relished the wonderful feeling of falling backwards even though I was completely stationary. The familiar feeling of my blood buzzing through my veins took over my body, and I smiled at the calmness that surrounded me.

Kate was right; after about an hour of Alice's constant ramblings, and three games of Twister, Alice and Makenna passed out on the floor. Drool dripped from Alice's upturned lips and pooled under her mouth. I crawled over to where she lay and checked her pulse. Yup. She was still alive. I fell over on the floor next to my snoring sister and laughed at myself while Kate chuckled and shook her head.

"Come on, you dirty slut," she laughed. Kate pulled me to a sitting position. "It's time to party, bitch."

She escorted me upstairs, dug through my closet, and tossed various items over her shoulder onto my messy bed. I was uncaring about what I wore, too fixated on my buzz to give a crap. It wasn't like that all the time. Usually I enjoyed dressing up and looking girly. I never left the house without makeup on, something I possibly inherited from my Nana Swan. Hell, everyone stared at us all the time anyway. As much as I hated the stares, I always figured I might as well give them something nice to look at.

I left on my bright yellow tube socks, yanked on some skin tight black pants, a sleeveless black shirt with ruffles down the front, and a pair of knee high black boots. After I pulled a belt on above my waist, just below my boobs, I glanced in the mirror and grinned at the hot girl who stared back.

There was another reason I loved weed. It made me feel like a fucking rock star when I was really just an eighteen-year old nobody, stuck in a nowhere town in the backwoods of Mississippi, with no hope for a decent future whatsoever.

Kate curled my long, brown hair and I threw on some of Alice's makeup. Kate assured me that I looked great and we walked right out the front door. We left Alice and Kenna passed out on the living room floor.

It was a good thing I smoked that weed earlier in the night, because when we hit that highway and began to climb that unfamiliar gray bridge over the river, I just about had a panic attack. Kate glanced at me worriedly, whispered for me to calm down and asked if I wanted to turn around and go home. I shook my head, the desire so strong to be someone else for a change overwhelming as it took over my body, my heart, and soul.

Kate grasped my hand and we squealed as we topped the bridge. The lights from the barges were glowing softly below. Suddenly I felt free; it was a dangerous, foreign, yet addictive feeling, sort of like the feeling I had the first time I smoked weed. It was a feeling I could only get when I'd done something bad, dangerous, but utterly satisfying at the same time.

As we crossed that bridge, something deep within me told me that everything was about to change that night and nothing would ever be the same again.

* * *

Beta'd by the great AliCat0623 ;)

Okay, so you've meet Bella's crazy family. Now, who's ready to meet Edward? Do you think they might run into each other at the party? Do you blame Bella for crossing that bridge? I know I would!

I'll try to update twice a week from here on out as long as RL doesn't get in the way and AliCat doesn't kill me ;)

I'm used to updating twice a week, so not doing so is driving me nuts! I love y'all ;)

Peace and Love,

Jhood


	4. Chapter 4: Artemis and Cash

_Previously, in Chapter Three..._

_Kate grasped my hand and we squealed as we topped the bridge. The lights from the barges were glowing softly below. Suddenly I felt free; it was a dangerous, foreign, yet addictive feeling, sort of like the feeling I had the first time I smoked weed. It was a feeling I could only get when I'd done something bad, dangerous, but utterly satisfying at the same time._

_As we crossed that bridge, something deep within me told me that everything was about to change that night and nothing would ever be the same again._

* * *

_"When you trip over love, it is easy to get up. But when you fall in love, it is impossible to stand again."_

_~Albert Einstein~_

**Chapter Four: Artemis and Cash**

The navigation in Kate's ostentatious truck talked to us in a feminine, robotic voice and instructed us on which roads to take to our destination.

I stared hungrily through the windows. I'd wanted to know what Birchwood looked like for years, and I finally got a brief glimpse of the town that looked so similar to my hometown of Mayhaw.

We quickly sped through and hit an access road that ran alongside the river. Kate and I exchanged nervous smiles as we followed the navigation down several winding roads. Each house near the river grew bigger and bigger as we eventually pulled down a winding driveway in the middle of nowhere. It was surrounded by trees and drunk teenagers. A massive red brick house with white columns sat on a tall hill overlooking the river, surrounded by ancient oaks.

Kate parked her truck on the side of the road far enough from the house so we wouldn't be blocked in, just in case we needed an easy escape.

"Just pretend like it's any other party we've been to, okay?" she asked as she cut the engine and slipped from the truck.

I nodded, feigning a strength that I willed myself to feel. We walked arm in arm down the long, winding driveway and grinned at the appreciative whistles and smiles of unfamiliar males we passed along the way. Their ogling helped boost my confidence a bit more. By the time I made it inside the massive house, I was in my element as Marie, my alter ego.

Inside the fancy house was a throng of sweaty teenage bodies dancing provocatively against one another amidst the thick, swirling fog of cigarette and weed smoke.

Whoever lived in the swanky abode obviously had a hankering for some Hank Williams Jr., because 'Outlaw Women' boomed from the speakers. It was one of my personal favorite Hank songs, and the beat of the music shook the walls in the house, causing the oil paintings on the wall to vibrate and hang unevenly at odd angles on the walls.

Our weed buzz began to waver, so Kate went in search a new distraction.

"Will you be okay alone for a while?" Kate asked as she watched my face carefully.

Kate obviously already spotted her 'someone' for the night and was in full abandonment mode. This didn't surprise, nor offend me. It was just the way things were.

I nodded and she whispered, "Good. I'm gonna go get me some head."

I burst into laugher and shook my head in mirth as Kate strolled over to a keg. She laughed and giggled as a guy poured her a drink in a red Solo cup. She flipped her long, blonde hair, batted her eyelashes and shot me an evil grin before she and the guy disappeared.

Shaking my head with a slight smile on my face, I hoisted myself up on the bar that overlooked the massive living room. Behind me sat multi-colored Jello shots; red, green, purple, blue and orange. I wondered vaguely if the red was cherry or strawberry. The taste of cherries made me gag, but I loved the taste of strawberries.

I slammed a couple of Jello shots, happy to find the red Jello was, in fact, strawberry flavored. Once I finished, I crumbled the tiny, clear plastic cups in my hands and tossed them carelessly in an open garbage can placed near the bar.

The crowd thickened as the night wore on. I swayed on the bar, comfortable in my solitude, scanning the room and unintentionally catching the eyes of several guys. A couple of brave ones approached me and asked for a dance, but I politely turned them down and promised them one later. It was a lie. The alcohol and weed put me in my own zone and I didn't feel like talking to anyone. I was happy to simply sit and people watch.

The mood suddenly shifted. At first I thought it was from the new beat that flowed from the speakers or possibly from the lights that someone dimmed, making the room almost completely dark. The only lights in room were from the flashing strobe that someone had propped up in one corner of the room. Those rich kids pulled out all the stops. But the strange shift in mood had nothing to do with the music or the dimmed lights. It had everything to do with the three guys who walked into the living room from outside. They crossed the room and glanced around curiously as they took in the sights around them. Kids stopped dancing as the three guys cut across the room. Some of the boys did that stupid shoulder-bumping-thing guys do, while others simply stopped to stare at them in awe.

These three guys...they were somebody, at least to the people in that room. They walked in with a swagger that only someone confident in their own skin can possess. The first two held cocky grins on their faces as they wove through the party and passed a gaggle of girls who practically swooned in their presence.

I watched nosily as they made their way to a couch near one wall. The occupants of the couch stared up at them wide-eyed before they hopped up and darted off. One of the guys sat down on the couch with a small, lopsided grin on his face as he spoke to a babbling blonde who stood nearby. The swarm of dancing bodies blocked my view of him from time to time, but I found that I couldn't cut my eyes away from him for very long.

He was too pretty with high cheekbones, a slightly crooked nose, and perfectly smooth, flawless skin. The disheveled strands of hair on his head were a shaggy mess, but it fit him. His sultry lips were curved in a sexy, small grin. The room was too dark to tell what color his eyes or hair was, and they simply looked black from where I sat. Ink ran up his right, inner forearm, but it was too dark and he was too far away for me to tell what the apparent scroll read.

The fact that he had ink caused me to ponder his age, though it shouldn't. My body held ink as well and had since I turned seventeen.

The guy was sexy as hell wearing a tight black tee with the words 'Mama Tried' written in white and a pair of dark jeans and boots. The shirt he wore held the title one of my favorite Merle Haggard songs, but his clothes instantly reminded me of Johnny Cash, not that he looked anything like him. No, he was far too beautiful to resemble Johnny Cash. He reminded me of Cash because he wore black and Johnny Cash was always known as 'the man in black.' In my mind I nicknamed the guy 'Cash.' I nodded and smiled to myself, slightly drunk, as I laughed at my assessment of the guy.

Feeling like a total stalker, I dropped my attention from the stranger, reached behind me and grabbed another strawberry Jello shot. A strange, yet hauntingly familiar, prickling sensation ran up and down my arms. Goosebumps quickly shot across my flesh. Trying to shake the weird feeling, I brought the cup to my mouth and screamed when that creeper Mike Newton popped up in front of me.

"Jesus, Mike!" I stuttered as I pressed a shaky hand over my heart. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

For those of you who don't know, there's different types of 'good old boys' in the South. The first type of good old boy was the kind that made me feel sweaty and faint just by his mere presence. This type of good old boy liked to hunt, drink beer, and work on his truck in his spare time. He wore worn, ripped, frayed jeans from days of long labor and had slightly calloused hands. He was a hard worker; the instinct to labor and provide for his family was instilled in his life at a very young age. Sometimes he had Skoal rings on the back pockets of their jeans, which shamefully turned me on the most. It's not that I liked boys who dipped tobacco, it was just the fucking ring that did something to me. His arms were tan from long days in the hot, southern sun. He didn't mind breaking out a guitar when the sun went down, always ready to play a quiet, romantic tune.

Then there was the second type of good old boy. The kind like Mike Newton. This type of boy wore preppy clothes and drove a big, shiny pickup truck that his rich daddy bought him. He came from good, old southern money and had his future locked in since birth. Oh, he liked to hunt and fish just like the other type of good old boy, but instead of doing it for fun or survival he did it for bragging rights. He was that type of good old boy who did absolutely nothing for me.

Mike laughed nervously. He looked like a complete tool in his baby-blue polo shirt, jeans, and with his hair sticking straight up in tiny little spikes. He shoved his hands in his pockets and chatted awkwardly about school, asking me how I'd spent the summer, and wondering if I still worked at the cake shop. His eyes kept falling to my chest and I groaned as he blatantly stared at my breasts.

I pressed the plastic shot cup to my lips and my eyes shifted in boredom over his shoulder. They found themselves locked on another set of eyes...Cash's eyes. The plastic cup froze, still pressed against my lips. The strange prickling sensation coursed through my body in overdrive.

Mike continued to ramble, unaware of my heart that thumped wildly in my chest. The boy across the room continued to stare unwavering at me. My eyes drifted to his lips...which he licked, causing me to swallow dryly. A slight, crooked smile played across his face as I met his eyes once again. That's when a slinky redhead walked up to him and blocked my view of his smoldering sexy eyes. She eased down on the couch beside him and pressed her body up against his tall, lanky frame.

Of course he had a girlfriend. Why wouldn't he? Cash was the epitome of a sexy, southern, good old boy. And he was obviously attached, yet didn't mind shooting me a smooth grin across the room. I scowled at my attraction to an apparent playboy and broke the trance as I removed my gaze from his alluring eyes.

I forced myself to look at the blonde boy in front of me. Why did I never give Mike a chance? He was a handsome boy. He'd never take me home to meet his parents but he could be good times. He wasn't Cash, but he was a nice guy. And he was single. Plus, it'd been a while since I'd felt the hands of an eager teenage boy skim across my body.

Maybe I should take Nana's advice, not to get laid, but to stop being so uptight. I made a hasty decision. My eyes wandered down at Mike. I slipped my tongue inside the shallow plastic cup, twisting it in my hand as I loosened the Jello. Mike stared, slack-jawed, and I smiled at him as I sucked the shot down my throat and crushed the cup in my hand.

"Damn, Bella. That's so hot," Mike groaned while he crept closer.

I saw Cash stand, pull his arm away from the redhead and start to cross the room. His tall body twisted and turned as he avoided the dancing teenagers. There was a murderous scowl upon his face as he met my eyes once again. Something inside me told me this guy was annoyed with my behavior and Mike's affections, although I had no idea why. Did this guy think one sexy grin was his way of laying some sort of claim on me? That thought alone pissed me off.

"Hey, Mike, let me pop your collar," I cooed as I reached out and popped the collar of his über preppy polo shirt.

I let my fingers brush across his neck a bit and saw him shiver, which caused me to snort. I leaned back on the bar and gave him a good view of the ladies. This was completely out of character for me and I blamed it on the booze and the weed I smoked hours ago.

Cash was almost completely across the room. His lanky body crept into my vision. I denied myself the privilege to look up at the handsome boy. Why tease my eyes with something I could never have? Instead I focused on Mike's lusty face as Cash rounded the bar and passed me by without a second glance. He left leaving a hint of spicy cologne in his wake. Out of my peripheral, I saw him grab a red cup and head to the keg behind me.

Cash's proximity was overwhelming. My body crawled, my blood churned in my veins, and my stomach clenched in nervousness. I'd never felt this way before and it was an unfamiliar and terrifying feeling. All I wanted was to get away.

All thoughts of seducing a more than willing Mike instantly flew from my mind. I slid down from the bar, surprising Mike as I bumped into him. I cringed as I felt his erection accidentally brush against my thigh. A muttered, feeble excuse for fresh air left my mouth and I darted across the room, practically running through an open door that I found leading outside.

My feet hit a large, wooden deck. A view of the river that separated Birchwood from Mayhaw stood a good distance away near the woods. There were a few strangers who laughed and lounged outside, drinking beer and smoking cigarettes. No one noticed me as I eased by them, hiding my face with my long, dark hair. I jogged down the long, wooden walkway leading to the grass below. My feet hit the grass and I slowed down as I noticed a pier ahead of me that jutted out into the river.

My boots hit the pier and I gazed up at the huge, white, full moon shadowed only by its own deep valley's and crevices. The moon hung surprisingly low in the sky and seemed to dip down towards the earth's surface. The sky was the color of ink and peppered with white, twinkling stars. I sat down near the edge of the pier and stared up at the moon with my arms wrapped around my knees.

I lay back on the pier and let my dark hair spill out around me as I closed my eyes. For a moment I lost myself in the sound of water lapping against the shore, the crickets singing, and the frogs croaking. Calmness overtook me, and I opened my eyes gazing up at the stars and searched for my favorite constellations.

I heard him before I saw him. His heavy boots caused the wooden boards of the pier to creak and groan beneath his feet. I tried to ignore the warm current that flowed through my veins and the tiny sense of panic of the unknown. After a deep, soothing breath, I disregarded the effect of this stranger and stared into the night sky. His dark boots arrived nearby and I avoided his face that hovered above me, right next to the moon. An unfathomable amount of time passed between us before he finally sat down beside me on the pier, falling in place at my side.

From the corner of my eye I watched as he lay back, his face only inches from mine as I finally snuck a peek. His eyes were fixed on the night sky as well. It took all my strength as I fought the urge to just lay and stare at him, for he really was the most beautiful man I'd ever seen. The guy looked like an angel carved from marble. I turned my eyes back to the night sky to avoid him catching me staring.

We said nothing for long time. We simply stared at the stars as they flashed methodically in the inky blackness. He eventually turned to gaze at me, and my breath caught in my throat as I automatically reached for a lock of hair to twirl around my finger, one of my nervous habits. It was finally me who broke the silence.

"I was looking for Orion," I said, taking a deep, shaky breath. "But I forgot he's not allowed in the night sky until winter."

I regretted my words as soon as they left my lips, for surely he'd just found out that I was a total nerd.

"Orion? Is that a constellation?" he asked, his voice sweet and soft.

It had a warm thickness to it, like molasses, and he sounded genuinely interested in my response. I swallowed hard and nodded in reply as I felt his eyes search my face.

"Why is it not allowed in the sky?" he asked.

His voice was tinged with obvious curiosity as he finally turned his face back towards the sky. My body practically slumped in relief as he no longer studied me.

"Because the scorpion is in the sky. See? There he is," I explained as I pointed at the constellation above.

He followed the direction in which my finger pointed and looked at the night sky closely.

"They're not allowed in the sky together, so Scorpius shows himself in the summer and Orion shines in the winter."

"Why can't the two constellations share the sky?" he asked, his face drawn in confusion, shocking me with his curiosity.

"Um, well," I began as I took a deep breath.

His spicy scent washed over me and filled my lungs with the smell.

"There's different versions of the story, but I'll tell you my favorite if you're really interested."

He nodded slowly and I felt his eyes on my face briefly before they turned back to the sky above.

"Orion was a great hunter who spent the majority of his time avoiding people. He liked spending time by himself, fishing and hunting to his heart's content. He was somewhat nocturnal, hunting and fishing at night and resting during the day.

It was during one of those nights that the moon goddess, Artemis, spied him down below as she flew across the night sky, riding in her magical chariot guided by her flying horses. Artemis was a great hunter as well. Night after night passed by and she watched Orion below, eventually falling in love with him from afar.

"She wanted to leave the night sky and tell Orion of her secret affection for him, but she was a goddess and Orion was a mortal. It was strictly forbidden for gods and mortals to mix, and she knew her father Zeus would punish them both for her love.

"One night, Artemis rode across the night sky and saw Orion below. She couldn't hide her feelings for him anymore. She rode down to where he was and he cast his eyes on her for the first time, instantly falling in love with her. She began sneaking out of the night sky to hunt with him night after night.

"Zeus somehow found out about his daughter's reckless behavior and hatched a plan to end the affair. Zeus commanded a giant scorpion to drop down on the land where Orion slept. Orion awoke and began fighting the scorpion, but the scorpion fatally stung him, eventually killing him.

"Artemis arrived just after it happened, finding her lover dead. She grabbed the scorpion in a rage and flung him high into the heavens where he became the constellation Scorpius.

"She mourned Orion for hours and hours, crying over his dead body before taking him up in her chariot. Artemis placed Orion high in the heavens, opposite of the scorpion that assassinated him so they'd never have to share the same night sky," I finished with a red face, embarrassed that I'd rambled on and on about my knowledge of the constellations.

There was a lengthy pause before he blew out a deep breath and said, "That's the saddest fucking story I've ever heard."

I burst into laughter at his blunt, honest words, my embarrassment forgotten as I covered my mouth to hide the sound. When my laughter died down, I turned my head and directly met his eyes for the first time since he arrived on the pier. They glowed under the pale moonlight that blushed across his face and I saw the most beautiful colored eyes I'd ever seen in my life. They were green like moss and grass and ferns and life, framed in long, thick dark eyelashes. I took my time as examined his face; the high cheekbones, his slightly crooked nose and his long, dark flashes that framed his green eyes. He studied my features as well.

"How do you know so much about the constellations?" he murmured.

"My father and I used to search for them on clear nights," I replied quietly, the memory of the few happy times with my father suddenly making me a little melancholy. "I've always loved studying the night sky, looking for comets and shooting stars. The mechanics of how everything works so perfectly together...gravity, mass...weightlessness. Can you imagine the feeling of weighing nothing? I wonder if it's like floating in the water with your eyes closed, or maybe something entirely different. The universe is so vast and so unexplored. There's so much out there that we'll probably never know about. The unknown terrifies yet thrills me."

My proverbial word vomit caused me to cringe and my fingers automatically searched for a strand of hair. I locked one around my forefinger and twisted it tightly.

"Who are you?" he whispered as his eyes darted from my eyes to my lips.

The question terrified me. My mouth automatically opened to spill out my real name, but I hesitated once I remembered where I was. The thought of lying to this person, this stranger, felt so...wrong for some reason, but I couldn't tell him the truth. What if someone found out a Swan was in Birchwood? My mother and James' rendezvous had somehow been kept hush-hush. If it got out that two Swan girls were in Birchwood all hell would break loose. No, I couldn't tell this boy my name.

"What's in a name?" I murmured while I turned my head to face the stars.

His eyes continued to penetrate me.

"Everything," he pressed. "Everything is in a name. Your name tells who you are, where you come from..." I said nothing in response, but thought to myself that he was absolutely right.

"If you won't tell me you're name, I'll just call you Artemis," he murmured.

I felt his fingers brush against my limp hand by my side. The action immediately sent a warm, tingly feeling up my arm, a foreign, yet hauntingly familiar feeling.

"Artemis was a selfish goddess," I whispered while my eyes darted up at Scorpius. "If she'd kept her feelings hidden, Orion wouldn't have died. Why do you call me Artemis? I'm nothing like her. I'd never risk someone's life that way," I said.

I turned my head towards him and shot him a confused look that quickly faded away at his intense stare. His vibrant green eyes bored into mine.

"Because you're beautiful just like a moon goddess," he whispered tenderly as he reached towards my face.

My breath caught in my throat as his warm hand cupped my cheek. His thumb brushed lightly across my lips.

"What about that girl sitting beside you at the party? Is she beautiful like a moon goddess?" I asked.

The memory of the redhead back in the huge house was fresh in my mind. His thumb froze on my lips as his green eyes narrowed in on my brown ones.

"Victoria?" he scoffed, a frown on his face. "She's been after me for years, but believe me when I say there's nothing between her ears but an empty space."

"How do I know you're not just trying to seduce me with your pretty words? Maybe that's how you seduce all the girls..." I asked with one cocked eyebrow as I studied his face.

"I've never tried to seduce anyone," he said as he stared deep into my eyes, not a hint of falsity in his soft voice. "It's normally _them _trying to seduce _me_."

"Well, I'm not like most girls, Cash," I smirked.

My cheeks burned hot as I realized I gave away his secret name.

"Cash? Did you just call me Cash?" he asked.

His hand abandoned my face as he ran it down my neck. He quirked an eyebrow waiting for a response. His fingertips sent chills down my spine and caused my nipples to pebble against the fabric of my thin bra. My heart thumped erratically as his fingers lingered near the top of my black, ruffled shirt.

"The man in black...Johnny Cash," I whispered. "Besides, you haven't told me your name either."

His hand froze as he stared at me and processed my words.

"I asked you first," he laughed.

He slipped his fingers below the hem of my shirt. A gasp of surprise escaped my lips at his exploration of my skin below.

"Can I touch you, Moon Goddess?" he asked with a smirk at the expression on my face.

His fingers began to stroke the tender flesh near my breast, effectively setting my body on fire.

"Most guys don't ask first," I managed to whisper between my quiet gasps as I gazed at his beautiful, hooded green eyes.

"I'm not like most guys," he said, turning the tables and laughing lightly as a throaty, whorish moan left my mouth.

I didn't have to answer him. He knew my answer from the way my body responded to his touch. I glanced down and watched as he slid his large hand beneath my bra, cupping my breast. The smile on his lips told me that he enjoyed the expressions that played across my face as he toyed with my hard nipple, rolling it between his fingers and pinching it lightly. I moaned and gasped at the sensation as he flicked and teased my nipple with a feather light touch, my body burning from my chest through my stomach and straight between my legs. I'd never felt so good...no one ever made me feel so good from such a simple touch. His touch left me throbbing and wet.

"Can I kiss you, Moon Goddess?" he asked.

He studied my face with a furrowed brow, as though I could deny him. I moaned in response and he leaned in and captured my mouth with his own. His warm tongue slid into my mouth and met mine slowly, carefully as though he savored the taste and cherished the feeling. Reaching up, I pulled him closer to me and deepened the kiss as he continued to palm my breast. He broke the kiss first as he continued to pull and tweak my nipple.

"You taste like strawberries and smell like..._birthday_ _cake_," he whispered, brushing his lips against mine. "Why is that?"

There'd been little time for a shower as Kate and I snuck away from Alice and Makenna earlier in the night. I was somewhat embarrassed at the almost permanent smell of buttercream icing that lingered in my hair and on my skin.

"The strawberries are from Jello shots...and the cake smell is icing. I work in a bakery...actually, it's a cake shop. But we sell other sweets and party decor as well," I told him in an apologetic voice as I rambled.

"I love it. I love the way you taste, the way you smell. Tell me your name," he demanded between ragged breaths.

I bit my lip and shut my eyes as I relished the feeling of his fingers teasing my nipple and the delicate way he looked at me. I nearly cried when his fingers left my nipple to grasp my chin firmly. The firm grip of his fingers against my chin and the abandonment of my breast caused my eyes to flutter open in surprise.

"I have ways to make you talk," he smirked as his eyes flashed in warning.

I gulped as he released my chin and ghosted his fingers down my body. When he reached my pants he tugged at the waistband and propped himself up on one elbow. He stared into my eyes beneath the stars. He was so beautiful hovering above me, like an intangible angel surrounded by nothing but the black sky, the twinkling stars and the full, white moon.

"Oh, God," I moaned, when he began to tug down on my pants slightly.

I heard his breath hitch and felt his fingers freeze against my flesh as he suddenly stopped his actions.

"What's that?" he asked in an odd, uneven tone.

I glanced at him in confusion, his face now even paler in the moonlight and followed his gaze. My tattoo traveled from my right hip and ran along my lower abdomen. My aunt, Maggie, took me on my seventeenth birthday to get that tattoo. She pretended that she was my mother, signed the waiver at the parlor and gave me an encouraging grin. It was her 'fuck you' to my mother.

The tattoo was a bouquet of white lilies, the petals broken and crushed. The edges were brown with age and decay. Rips and holes covered the tattered petals. A white ribbon hung limply from the flowers and trailed down my hip. The lilies were flushed yellow near the base, near the deep, green stems. I'd been very specific about the color green on the stems and even argued with the tattoo artist until I was sure he had the color down just right. Because they matched his eyes...the eyes of the boy who gave them to me. Even in their broken state, the flowers were still beautiful.

"That's my lily tattoo. Why?" I asked, confused about the strange expression on his face.

Cash stared at the lilies and ran his fingertips over the surface of my skin, swallowing hard.

"Why broken lilies? Why do you have this tattooed on you?" he asked in a strained voice.

I bit my lip, baffled over the change in mood. A thick tension hung over us like a dark cloud.

"It's a reminder to myself," I whispered as his eyes met mine again, his expression intense. "To enjoy things while you can, because even the most beautiful things can easily be ruined."

His expression was pained, and I watched as his eyes drifted back down to my ink. His fingertips lightly massaged my flesh below the almost translucent flowers. The pale moonlight fell across his body and that's when I noticed his own ink. An elegant, black scroll drifted up his forearm, the same arm that touched my hip. My body froze as my brain repeated the word permanently etched across his skin.

_Cullen, Cullen, Cullen._

I uttered the word in shock, my eyes widened in horror and my voice broke at the end. He glanced down at his tattoo, chuckled nervously and said, "Yeah, I guess you know at least_ part_ of my name now."

There was no time to hesitate. He jumped in shock as I suddenly jerked away from him, stumbled to my feet, and yanked my pants above my hip bones. My body was flooded with humiliation, sickness, and shame for letting a Cullen touch me so intimately...and _loving_ it.

Bewildered, he jumped to his feet. I backed slowly down the pier and stared distrustfully into his confused eyes. Turning on one heel I darted down the pier and gasped for air as I ran uphill towards the large house where the low thud of music could be heard. My stomach began to roll in nausea. I didn't make it far before he caught up, grabbed my arms and spun me around to face him. The house was still several yards out of my reach.

"What's wrong? Where are you going?" he asked, not even out of breath.

My body was pressed against his. He was too close. His body was warm and he smelled so good. Why couldn't he be someone else? Why couldn't I?

"I've gotta go," I muttered lamely.

Cold terror consumed me as my uncle's words from long ago ran through my mind. _I'll kill you myself._

"You're lying. You saw my tattoo and ran. It's because I'm a _Cullen_, right?" he asked.

He tilted my head up with his fingers meeting my eyes, and searching them for something...what, I wasn't sure. His face was full of worry and concern, his thick, dark eyebrows knotted together. Why was he being so nice? He's supposed to be an asshole. He's a Cullen and he's supposed to be an asshole. I said nothing.

"I see it in your eyes," he chuckled bitterly. "You saw my tattoo and began making assumptions about me because of my name."

He leaned down and brushed his warm lips against mine. I automatically responded. My body was a traitor against me as I pressed my lips back in response before he pulled away.

"Is that it? Are you like everyone else...assuming the worst because I'm a Cullen?" he asked in a soft whisper.

His words stung because they were true. That's exactly what I'd done. But if he knew who I really was he'd assume the same thing, right? I tried in vain to pull away from him, but he held me tightly against his hard body and stared down at me as tears formed in my eyes. His face nearly crumbled.

"Please don't cry," he whispered, his face bunched in worry, the words, his voice suddenly so familiar. "I didn't mean to make you cry."

"Oh, my God," I moaned.

They were the same words told to me by a certain little boy at my father's funeral so many years ago. I covered my mouth with one hand and reached out to cup his face. My eyes darted back and forth over his features. It was him. He wasn't just any Cullen. He was _Edward_ Cullen, the little boy from the funeral home. The boy who gave me the lilies. The boy I'd thought about constantly since the age of twelve. He stood there, right in front of me, in the flesh, smelling like heaven and looking like sex. Gone was that little, sweet boy. In his place stood a grown man.

"Just...just pretend like tonight didn't happen!" I pleaded.

The horror and realization of who this boy, this man was washed over my body. My hands fell from his warm, smooth face. A look of hurt and anger crossed his features as I continued.

"Believe me, it's best this way," I said.

His fingers lost their grip momentarily as he rubbed his temples, shook his head and laughed dryly.

"Is it that easy for you? To pretend that something amazing didn't happen back there on that pier?" he asked in a low voice.

He pointed over one shoulder with his thumb and glared darkly at me as I began to back away. His hands were no longer holding me back.

"No!" I hissed.

I wiped the tears away with the back of my hand. I gazed up at him as he stood nearly a foot taller than my five foot four inch frame.

"I know something amazing happened back there! But believe me when I say you need to stay far, far away from me...before something horrible happens to the both of us," I stressed.

"What do you mean? I'm not letting you leave until you explain," he said and reached for me once more.

His touch terrified me. I dodged it because I hated myself for wanting it so badly. His touch was deadly, not only to me but for him as well. What if Aro found out about tonight? What if he hurt Edward? That's when I began to really panic. My throat felt as though someone were choking me and I struggled to breathe. His face grew anxious as he watched me gasp for breath. I backed away from his hand frozen in the air just inches away from me.

"I...need to go," I choked out.

The sound of someone yell my alias name drifted in the stiff, warm breeze that flitted through the nearby oak trees. Kate stood on the back deck of the house, frantically screaming for me.

"That's my cousin looking for me. I have to leave. Let me go, please," I said.

"I'm not letting you go," he whispered, his expression stubborn. "I know you feel the same way about me. I see it in those big, brown eyes."

"I have a boyfriend," I whispered, lying feebly as I avoided his eyes. "The guy I was talking to inside...that's my boyfriend."

The false admission didn't cause him to falter at all.

"You're lying to me," he said quietly as I continued to dodge his stare. "It's because of who I am."

Edward pulled me into his arms and dropped a kiss on my lips. His tongue slipped into my mouth and I moaned. He pulled me closer and pressed my wanton body against his.

My cousin's voice grew louder and louder as she searched for me, and I pushed myself away from him breathlessly.

"Stay away from me," I told him weakly as I looked up into his determined eyes, trying to convey my seriousness with my firm stare.

His jaw clenched and he shook his head, looking absolutely lethal and firm in his words as he said, "You know I can't do that. I've never felt anything like the way I felt on the pier and I can tell that you haven't either."

He continued to blame himself and his family for my reluctance, not understanding the truth behind my reason to run from him. I begged him to let me be but he followed me up the hill. My pace quickened the closer I got to the deck.

Kate's voice grew louder and louder intermingled with another unfamiliar male voice. She stood on the deck and glanced around. Her blue eyes were wide with worry and irritation until she spotted me cross the lawn. She descended the wooden steps, a tall, lanky handsome boy with a head full of wavy auburn curls close on her heels. The guy was drunker than Cooter Brown, and I watched as he stumbled and swayed down the wooden steps behind her.

"CASSIE! My fair Cassie!" he screamed dramatically.

The guy grabbed her limp hand as she struggled to pull it from his grasp. He fell to one knee, proposal style, the action so strange that I froze in my tracks.

"Do not leave me, my fair Cassie!" he protested.

"Get this freak away from me!" she snapped.

She struggled to yank her hand away from the guy and succeeded. He toppled over on the dewy grass in a heap of laughter as she spun around and grasped me by the crook of my elbow. Kate pulled me away from the giant house towards the driveway. With one last glance over my shoulder, I saw Edward help the guy to his feet. Edward shook his head and cast me a worried glance as I darted up the driveway. He practically dragged the guy beside him as he ran to catch up to me and Kate.

"Cassie, do not leave me! For if you leave, you take my heart with you as well!" the guy slurred as he struggled to catch up to us. "I can not live without my heart, dear Cassie!"

"I have a gun in my truck," Kate muttered, her shoes clacking against the paved driveway. "I'll be doing the world a favor."

"Who is that?" I asked as Edward and the drunk guy finally caught up to us.

The guy grabbed Kate by her sparkling silver shirt. Kate stumbled for a moment before she turned around and slapped him across the face. Hard. I gasped at the action. The guy just looked shocked for a second before giving her a sloppy grin, his hazy eyes shining.

"That was so hot. You really lit a fire under me, darling," he drawled, as he rubbed his sore, red cheek.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" Edward asked.

He placed a friendly hand on the guy's shoulder as the boy stared stupidly at my glaring cousin. She crossed her arms over her chest and shot me a worried glance that made my stomach drop.

"You ask her," the guy said.

He ran his hand up his white t-shirt and rubbed his belly, exposing his six-pack and happy trail.

"I was just about to make sweet, gentle love to her in the upstairs bathroom when she went nuts and fucking _bit_ me man. And I'm not talking about one of those kinky bites...the ones I like. She bit a damn plug out of me," the guy held his arm out and pointed to a large, red bite mark near the crook of his elbow.

I gasped, but it wasn't the mark that caused the sound to escape my lips. It was the familiar black scroll that ran up his arm. I suddenly knew exactly why Cassie shot me that anxious stare. It was because of the word that sprawled up the underside of his arm.

_Cullen. Cullen. Cullen._

"Touch me again, Cullen, and I swear to God you'll wish it was _only_ your arm that I bit off!" Kate threatened as she wagged her finger in his smirking face.

"Promises, promises, baby. Look at my girl, Edward. She's got some good, child bearing hips on her, doesn't she, man?" the guy drawled.

His eyes lingered on my cousin's bottom half.

"She's gonna look good running around the yard, pregnant and barefoot," he drawled.

Kate's face turned red and she began to scream like a wild woman. She swung her tiny fists in the air, her long blonde hair flying around her. Somehow I snapped out of the trance caused by the strange situation in front of me. I grabbed her around the waist as Edward wedged himself between Kate and the Cullen guy who laughed hysterically at her. Kate was so strong she simply pulled me behind her as I clung to her waist. My knees were locked as I dug my heels into the pavement. Strangers who walked to their vehicles stopped to shoot us strange glances.

"Okay, look. I'm gonna take Garrett home and get him sobered up," Edward said after he dodged a swing that Kate sent his way.

She stopped her actions, her breathing heavy as she glared at the protesting boy who stood behind Edward.

"Good idea," she hissed. "Get him away from me before I do something drastic. Come on...Marie, let's go."

Kate dug her keys from her pocket and hit the automatic unlock button. Edward gave me a pointed look before I climbed into the truck. It was a look that told me he'd be seeing me very soon. I shook my head minutely, but he ignored me and pulled Garrett away who continued to scream.

"I'm coming for you, Cassie!" Garrett hollered. "You can't get rid of me that easy, baby!"

Garrett's boots slid on the pavement as Edward pulled him down the driveway. He hooted and hollered as Kate rolled down the window far enough to flip him the middle finger as we pulled away down the road. The two boys disappeared as she slammed on the gas and sped through the darkness.

Neither of us said anything for a while until the front tires hit that bridge. It was that pivotal bridge that separated our world from the Cullen's.

She took a deep breath, glanced at me from the side of her eyes and whispered, "Is it totally weird that I kinda...like that Cullen guy?"

We stared at each other in seriousness for a moment before we both burst into laughter. It felt good to laugh after the emotional night I had. I glanced down at the waterway below me. The barges were long gone and nothing but a dark river flowed far below us.

"No. No, it's not weird at all," I whispered after our laughter died down.

The weight of the night pressed heavily on my shoulders. There was a long pause as we crossed the bridge. Kate finally broke the silence.

"So, who was that guy standing by you?" Kate asked.

She shot me a sideways glance, her face covered with a seriousness that she normally didn't possess. Kate hadn't noticed the Cullen tattoo on Edward's arm that matched Garrett's.

There was a warm spark of happiness that burned deep inside my chest. It was a feeling I'd never felt in my life. I quickly extinguished it, because I knew in my heart of hearts that there was no chance for Edward and I. I would only have my dreams of the moon and stars and his angelic face to keep me company at night.

"No one," I whispered in reply as I pressed my face against the smooth glass beside me.

The back tires of Kate's truck left the bridge for what was possibly the very last time. "No one at all."

* * *

The term 'drunker than Cooter Brown' is something I've heard my entire life but AliCat pointed out that she had no idea what it meant. Supposedly Cooter Brown lived on the live that divided the north from the south during the war. He decided to stay inebriated throughout the war so he'd be rendered useless by the military and avoided the draft. If someone is 'drunker than Cooter Brown' they're slap drunk.

AliCat also didn't know what a whooperwheel was in the last chapter. It's a bird that makes a call that sound like 'whooperwheel'. Some Native American legends say that the call of a whooperwheel means death is approaching.

I love reading all your reviews and hopefully responded to all of them. I probably responded to some of them twice. Blame it on my ADD.

Shoutout to a little psychic reader/review named NanStew :) I looked all over my house but couldn't find you. If you keep making predictions about future chapters I'll have to pull my cray-cray out like I did in BB. Love ya!

This chapter was beta'd by the wonderful AliCat0623, who is an avid animal lover. She loves rabbits in particular ;)

What did you think about the chapter? What do you think about Edward? Will Edward hunt her down? Will she continue to avoid him? Was it too fluffy, or the right amount of fluff? I'll be eagerly awaiting your reviews :)

Peace and Love,

Jhood


	5. Chapter 5: Charcoal Smudges

_Previously, in Chapter Four..._

_"So, who was that guy standing by you?" Kate asked._

_She shot me a sideways glance, her face covered with a seriousness that she normally didn't possess. Kate hadn't noticed the Cullen tattoo on Edward's arm that matched Garrett's._

_There was a warm spark of happiness that burned deep inside my chest. It was a feeling I'd never felt in my life. I quickly extinguished it, because I knew in my heart of hearts that there was no chance for Edward and I. I would only have my dreams of the moon and stars and his angelic face to keep me company at night._

_"No one," I whispered in reply as I pressed my face against the smooth glass beside me._

_The back tires of Kate's truck left the bridge for what was possibly the very last time. "No one at all."_

* * *

_The palest ink is better than the best memory._

_~Chinese Proverb~_

**Chapter Five: Charcoal Smudges**

Kate and I developed a silent understanding between the two of us. She didn't question the identity of the angry, broken boy who'd stood by my side as we entered Mayhaw and I didn't mention Garrett. Sometimes I felt as though Kate knew me better than my own sister.

My mind was lost in deep contemplation as we eventually arrived at my house. Alice and Makenna lay just where we left them, thankfully still breathing. Kate crashed in Alice's bed. She cast one last thoughtful stare my way as she disappeared behind a quietly shut door.

My mind was too busy and too alert with thoughts of Edward to sleep. Walking across my room, I sat on the edge of my bed and faced the small bookshelf crammed with books nearby. Hesitantly, I removed a few of the classics. They were carefully aligned and arranged by size. I placed them gently on the bed beside me. Some of them were bought for me by my father when I was a child as his way of gingerly acknowledging my love of reading.

Some of them belonged to my father himself, including the Mark Twain and William Faulkner books that I'd snatched from beneath his old cigar table after his death. My mother never even missed them. She never understood his love of reading, nor mine, as she preferred living her life in the here and now instead of getting lost in the worlds of others. The pages of my father's aged books still smelled of pungent cigar smoke, for he loved to sit in his old chair smoking his cigars as he read late at night.

Hidden behind the worn stack of books sat one of my cherished sketchbooks. The color was slightly yellowed with age. Pulling the sketchbook from the shelf for the first time in years, I stood and tucked it beneath my arm. Walking over to the sliding glass doors, I pulled them open, stepped out onto the balcony and sat down on one of the faded, plastic chairs. I stared down at the sketch book in my lap for a long period of time before finally opening it about halfway. I fumbled through the pages of sketches until I found the one drawing that I knew still lingered there after all those years.

An angelic face peered back at me. His face was slightly round from childhood youth. Countless amount of hours were spent tangling his unruly hair with my charcoal pencil until I'd drawn it into the perfect mess. His cheekbones weren't as sharp in youth as they were in adulthood and his nose wasn't crooked, as though it'd once been broken, but it was still him in all his youthful glory. A twelve-year-old Edward Cullen stared at me with curiosity and regret ingrained in his eyes. Those eyes were the very same green orbs I'd spent an enormous amount of time perfecting. The color was practically impossible to replicate. Pages and pages of sketches remained in the book. The eyes were erased and re-colored until I finally found the shade of green closest to his own.

In one sketch he held a fistful of white lilies. They were flushed yellow near the stems. The trumpet-like shape of the petals curved and swirled above his fingers. The white ribbon was tied in a bow around the stems and trailed down the length of the page.

Placing the sketch book on the small table nearby, I shuffled back to my room and searched through the rollback desk for my secret ribbon. A tiny smile crossed my face as my fingers touched its silky surface where it lay in the back of the drawer. I pulled it from its hiding place and curled it around my fingers, amazed that it remained stark-white in color.

Changing into a camisole and sleep shorts, I braided my hair loosely down one side, took the ribbon and used it to tie the end of my braid. Then I carried the sketchbook to bed with me and left the sliding glass door open, allowing the moonlight to spill into my bedroom. I dug around for my old sketching pencils and found them in the top drawer of my nightstand.

I spent the rest of my night slowly drawing the contours of Edward Cullen's face. My hours were spent remembering his thick, low-lying eyebrows, his expressive green eyes, perfect red lips, and the chiseled structure of his cheekbones. His face was cast in the shadows of moonlight as I smudged the charcoal against the thin paper with the tips of my dirty fingers. Edward's face was the last thing I saw when I feel asleep, just as the sun began to peek above the horizon. The sketchbook lay flayed open at my side. A white ribbon was loosely tied in my hair.

The alarm on my phone woke me sometime later and I groaned at the thought of working all day after the emotional night I had. After hiding my sketchbook I took a long shower. I threw on my required pink shirt and a pair of short and avoided the suspicious glares of my sister and my sleepy-eyed cousin, Makenna.

Kate vanished sometime in the night. Alice's bed lay empty and Kate's truck was no longer sitting in our driveway. Makenna drove home and Alice rode silently beside me in my Jeep on our way to work. My mind was too distracted to notice the tenseness between the two of us. If I'd been paying attention I'd have noticed how easily she'd picked up on my mood, probably knowing that something happened during the night while she was passed out in a Purp-induced haze.

The day started out as any other. Alice lay on the counter near the register between customers whining and complaining about her wretched life of ringing up orders. When she wasn't whining, complaining, or ringing up orders, she was busily scrolling through her phone, wasting her life away on Facebook.

Kate and I were too busy to be bothered with her attitude, for Nana called me earlier that morning complaining of a summer cold causing us to become short of help at work. Our grandmother was in her sixties, but had more energy than all of us put together and that was obvious during her absence. Thankfully, all the cake orders were completed but Saturdays were extremely busy, meaning I'd have to shuffle to make fresh cookies and other sweet treats to keep up with the busy demands of our customers.

Kate was a great decorator, but she sucked at baking. This produced a great challenge since our grandmother and I typically performed all the baking duties. Baking is nothing like cooking. When you cook something, if it doesn't taste the way you like it, you can add spices or other ingredients to it. With baking, you either do it correctly the first time or it's ruined and Kate was _amazing_ at ruining food.

It was during the middle of her third batch of horribly bitter-tasting chocolate chip cookies that the phone began ringing. Now, don't get me wrong, that phone rang constantly, but that day it was non-stop. It wasn't until I heard Alice's shrill voice that I realized why it rang more than usual that day.

"I've already told you once," she hissed into the cordless phone, glaring at her archenemy, the cash register, as she spoke. "No one by the name of 'Cassie' or 'Marie' works here! Stop calling, you nutjob!"

Alice angrily pressed the end button with her small thumb. Her dark eyes narrowed down at the offensive object clutched in her hand. Kate and I heard her from the back room where we stood arguing over the cookies. Our argument paused abruptly as we heard her side of the conversation, our eyes mirroring each other in surprise. The phone rang again almost immediately.

"Will one of y'all answer that phone?" I heard Alice call in a sugary-sweet voice. "There's a couple of customers up front."

"Fuck my life," Kate mumbled as we walked over to the cordless phone perched on the wall in the room where we stood.

The caller ID announced that the number was blocked and we exchanged nervous glances as the phone eventually stopped ringing, only to start ringing again almost immediately.

"Do you think it's Garrett...or that other guy?" Kate asked.

Her brow was wrinkled in concern as we continued to stare at the ringing phone. Alice was probably about to go ballistic in the front of the shop.

"I don't know who else it can be," I replied as I hastily reached out and touched the phone. "We haven't used our alias names in a couple of months, and even then we didn't exchange numbers with anyone."

"How do they know where we work?" she asked, glancing at the offensive phone.

"I...I mentioned working in a bakery," I admitted. "We're the only one in the county. Maybe they assume we work together? Who knows?"

Taking one last deep breath, I snatched the phone from its stand. The screen glowed as it automatically connected me with the caller.

"Swan's Sweet Confections. This is Bella, how can I help you?" I said with a wince as I realized I habitually gave my first name by answering the phone the way I typically did.

The line was silent except for the tell-tale sound of someone pressing their hand over the speaker. A murmuring of male voices could be heard in the background. My name, my _real_ name, was spoken and as soon as the words left the lips of whomever was calling, I hung up, slamming the phone back to its base in terror.

"Who was it?" Kate asked, tossing her blonde hair over one shoulder as her blue eyes drifted from my face to the silent phone.

"No one," I whispered, my eyes staring into hers. "I mean, they didn't say anything."

Kate stared at me dubiously as I shuffled away to bake a new batch of chocolate chip cookies. I left her standing there contemplating my shift in mood.

As I dumped the ruined cookies in the trash and started on a new batch, my mind was lost in thought, wondering about the strange phone call. Was it Garrett calling...or Edward? My name was repeated by the caller...probably from Garrett to Edward or vice versa. God, I hated my momentary lapse into stupidity as I answered the phone the way I normally did by using my first name.

Edward probably had it figured all out by now. He'd probably tied the loose ends of my rejection together, formulating a reasoning for my desperation to get away from him the previous night. The name of the bakery was _Swan's_ Sweet Confections. I answered the phone as _Bella_. It was pretty obvious he'd put two and two together.

What would happen if he found out Marie was actually Bella? Would he be angry? Indifferent? Did Kate and I inadvertently start a new war? I was suddenly pissed at myself for agreeing to cross that stupid bridge and attend that dumb party...but if I hadn't cross that bridge I wouldn't have seen Edward that night. The risk we took almost made it almost worth it. Almost.

Somehow I managed to avoid Kate's critical, questioning stares the rest of the morning. It was almost closing time when the phone started ringing again. Alice huffed angrily in the front of the shop, agitated by they annoying sound. Kate darted from where she stood, quickly explaining to Alice that she'd take care of the insistent caller. Alice nodded, too distracted with a customer picking up a large sheet cake to pay Kate any attention.

Kate ran back to where was I was busily stacking cookies on a cooling rack. I hollered as she yanked me into Nana's office, slammed the door behind us and locked it. With wide eyes I fell into the chair across from Nana's desk watching as Kate hit a button on the large, black phone that sat next to Nana's computer. Kate put it on speaker phone.

"Swan's Sweet Confections, this is _Cassie_ speaking. How can I help you?" she asked in a bored tone, opposite of the twinkling inside her excited, blue eyes.

Shaking my head in shame and disappointment, I leaned on the desk waiting on the caller to respond and wondering what Kate had up her sleeve.

"Cassie? Uhhh...this is Garrett. Garrett Cullen," the voice said.

I couldn't tell if it was the same, muffled voiced that I heard on the phone earlier, but it was definitely the same Garrett from the night before. Except he sounded sober, slightly nervous, and more than a little awkward.

"We met last night?" he continued. It sounded more like a question rather than a statement.

"Garrett Cullen," she mused, grinning at me as she sounded thoughtful. "Doesn't ring a bell."

Male laughter sounded in the background and I knew immediately that it was Edward. A little thrill of excitement shot through my chest and my heart began to race.

"You don't remember me?" Garrett asked, sounding heartbroken.

The smirk left Kate's face at the sound of his disheartened voice. She broke eye contact with me momentarily and glanced uneasily at the black phone. Kate swallowed hard before taking a deep breath and bringing the sarcastic grin back to her face.

"Of course I remember you, Garrett," she smirked, rolling her eyes. "It's not every day that some idiot chases me to my truck yelling his undying devotion to me."

"I knew you'd remember me," he said as his voice turned from shy and uncertain to cocky and knowing. "I was wondering if you'd like to go out, maybe see a movie or have a replay of last night. Minus the slapping. Well, maybe not. The slapping was kinda hot." There was more chuckling in the background as Garrett's voice purred into the phone.

"Look," Kate said with a sigh. "You seem like a nice enough guy and that's why I'm gonna let you down easy. We were both drunk last night. We made out in some random person's bathroom. It wasn't the most romantic setting, but it was surprisingly nice. And it sucks that we can't take things any further, but we can't because there's some..._underlying circumstances_ standing in the way. Now, please stop calling my workplace before you get me fired." Her voice was surprisingly regretful and nice as she ended the call. Garrett's muffled voice called out from the phone in objection.

Kate met my eyes and we stared at one another for a long moment across that desk as the phone rang once more. She snatched it up and slammed it back down before removing it from its cradle altogether. She placed the phone on the desk causing the line to become busy and effectively ending further calls.

"We need to talk," she said, raising an eyebrow. I nodded and she sighed heavily, running her fingers through her stick-straight cornsilk hair.

"Something happened between you and that guy last night," she began. "And don't try to deny it. I saw the way he _couldn't_ stop looking at you and the way you _tried_ to stop looking at him. It didn't work, by the way. You know I respect your privacy, but in the light of these circumstances maybe you should come clean about what happened last night."

Out of habit, I began twirling a lock of hair around my finger as my cousin spoke. Her eyes locked in on the action, automatically noticing my nervous tick. Dropping the lock from around my finger, I groaned and rubbed my forehead in frustration.

"That guy last night...that was Edward Cullen," I admitted, leaning back in my chair as Kate's eyes widened in surprise.

"Edward Cullen? The same Edward Cullen whose father Uncle Charlie supposedly killed?" she asked.

Her face became pale beneath her summer tan. Nodding hesitantly I watched as she shook her head in wonder.

"Shut your mouth! Wow, that's completely messed up," she mused, staring deeply into my shamed eyes. "Did you kiss him?"

"Um, yeah, we kissed," I muttered, my cheeks turning red.

I hadn't blushed since I was a kid. Kate groaned, leaned down, and banged her forehead on the desk over and over, causing me some alarm.

"And you like him, don't you? I can see it in those big, dumb eyes of yours. Oh, my God, Bella. You can't be around him. You know that, right? And I can't be around Garrett. Daddy, Uncle Aro, Uncle Marcus...they'd kill us if they found out we made out with a couple of Cullen guys!" she moaned as she pressed her forehead against the desk, unmoving.

"That's why they can't find out," I mumbled. She raised her head and gave me a lopsided frown. "To our knowledge, Aro's never mentioned to anyone in our family what happened between my mother and James Cullen. And everyone is too scared to mention it to him. I say we just keep our heads low and our noses clean. We'll pretend last night didn't happen." Yeah, right. Even I didn't believe my own words.

Kate nodded, slowly sitting up and taking a deep breath. She reached over and placed the phone back on it's cradle and we stared at it for a long moment, expecting it to begin ringing again. The room was silent for a long moment until a loud banging caused us to yelp in shock.

"What are y'all doing?" a tiny, angry voice yelled as the pounding continued. "You bitches best _not _expect me to clean shop while you hang out in Nana's office gossiping! I'm going on a date tonight and I need to get home so I can get ready!"

Yes, little Alice had a date, with some random guy from out of town whom she met on Facebook. She was going on the date against my wishes, but what could I do? Tie her down?

We closed shop and parted ways. Kate headed out to meet Jessica and Lauren, the Trailer Park Twins, to do God knows _what_ all night. Feeling bad about my grandmother having a cold, I stopped at the local grocery store to pick up some stuff to make her some homemade chicken soup. Alice bitched and moaned the entire time I scoped the aisle for ingredients.

Apparently I was interrupting her 'beauty regimen'. Those were her words, not mine. She huffed, standing behind me at the cash register. She flipped through a celebrity gossip magazine as she tapped her tiny foot impatiently. I was busy pulling up my checking account app on my phone when I paused and furrowed my brow.

"Alice, did you take any money out of our joint account without telling me?" I asked suspiciously.

My eyes darted between the phone and my sister. The amount of money in the bank was immensely smaller than what it should be.

Alice glared at me, shoving the magazine back in the rack and crossing her arms over her chest as I handed the cashier my debit card. The cashier cast us both an uneasy glance as her ears began to catch a possible argument brewing between her two customers.

"I've never taken money out of our account again without asking first," she hissed, rolling her eyes. "I learned my lesson a long time ago. The last time I did that was two years ago and that's about how long you griped about it."

She shoved past me, grabbing the bag of groceries roughly from the pimple-faced bag boy who stumbled and stuttered in surprise. The cashier handed me a receipt with an apologetic smile. Giving a brief smile in return, I walked out of the store while scrolling through the draft information under my account.

"No wonder it's so short," I muttered as I climbed behind the wheel of the Jeep. Alice continued to glare at me from the passenger seat. "They haven't deposited our monthly checks in there."

Alice and I received social security due to the death of our father and would continue to receive it as long as we stayed in school or turned twenty-one first. The power bill was just one of a multitude of bills due in the next couple of days and a wave of panic washed over me at the thought of late fees that would accumulate if I were unable to pay the bills on time. Those late fees really added up.

"Maybe it'll come through in a couple of days," Alice shrugged uncaring as her little fingers typed furiously away on her phone.

Of course she was uncaring. She wasn't the one in charge of paying the bills on time.

"If not, then just call Monday and get everything cleared up. Or call Mama. She can loan us some money. I'll bet she's making boatloads of money in Birmingham."

Shaking my head, I almost laughed at the thought of asking Mama for money. Mama hadn't been home in nearly a month and she never volunteered to help pay the bills anymore. She claimed that it shouldn't be that difficult for us since the house and land was paid for and we both had jobs plus our monthly social security check.

My mind was consumed with worry as we finally arrived home and I started on the chicken soup. Alice disappeared upstairs spending hours beautifying herself in our tiny bathroom. When the soup was finished I poured myself a small bowl and took a tentative bite of the hot concoction, nearly choking on a piece of chicken when Alice finally emerged from upstairs. Remember when I said Alice dressed to fit her mood? Well, that night she was in an utterly _whorish _mood.

"Alice, you're not leaving the house looking like that," I told my little sister in a firm voice.

I dropped my bowl in the sink, suddenly losing my appetite. I turned around and leaned against the counter in the kitchen glaring skeptically at my sister.

Alice wore a light pink and white corset with small, lacy white ruffles running along the bust. Skin tight dark jeans graced her tiny legs. They were shredded from the knees all the way to the top of her thighs. A pair of matching pink cowboy boots trailed up her calves, ending at the knees.

The corset and jeans gave the illusion of a larger bust and tapered waist, two things Alice lacked since she was skinny as a beanpole with no curves whatsoever. The poor fellow she was meeting didn't stand a chance with little Alice dressed like that. I didn't plan on him having a chance to begin with.

At first she pouted, then she glared as she placed one hand on her tiny hip, snarling, "You can't tell me what to do, Bella Swan! You're not my mother!"

"No, I'm not Mama," I snapped, washing my hands in the sink and drying them with a hand towel that I tossed angrily against the counter. "She's living in Birmingham without a care in the world. She's certainly not standing in this kitchen worrying about who you're going with or what you're wearing tonight."

Alice opened her mouth to argue but was interrupted by the sound of someone blowing their horn. I turned, glancing through the flower patterned curtains hanging over the kitchen sink to see a tall, dark-haired boy sitting in a car way too small for his lanky frame. How rude to pull up and honk the horn, not even walking to the door to escort her to the car!

"Gotta go!" she chirped with an easy grin.

Alice grabbed her small purse from the counter and fluttered to where I stood with my mouth hanging slightly open. She kissed me on the cheek and darted off before I had a chance to argue.

I watched her through the window with a frown on my face. as she hopped into the passenger side of the car. There was a huge, flirty smile, on her face, equal to the size of the one on her date's face. They peeled off leaving me standing alone in the kitchen scowling at their departure.

Grabbing the huge Tupperware container of soup and pan of cornbread I'd made, I headed out to the country where Nana Swan lived. She lived in the same old, two-story, white clapboard house surrounded by pastures and woods where she'd raised all her children. I took a deep breath, the few happy memories of my childhood flashing through my mind as I pulled on that long, gravel driveway and pulled up the white two-story house with the paint slightly peeling. Flowers bloomed everywhere. My grandmother's love of gardening was evident to anyone who drove by.

Lugging the food to the front door on the wrap-around porch, I propped the cornbread on top of the container of soup in one arm and banged awkwardly on the door with the other one. After a lengthy amount of time without a response, I placed the food on the porch and twisted the doorknob. The door opened with a heavy, creaking sound.

"Nana?" I called through the doorway.

The smell of apples and cinnamon invaded my senses. There was a low moaning sound drifting from the living room. I left the soup and cornbread on the front porch forgotten as I became overcome with a new worry. I found Nana in the living room surrounded by what seemed like hundreds of photographs of our family hanging on her walls, among the knickknacks and other crap she'd collected over the years.

She lay in Papa Swan's worn, blue recliner wrapped in an old quilt moaning and groaning. Her pale forehead was beaded with sweat. There was no makeup on her face and her hair that was normally permed to perfection was matted up and flattened against her head in a disheveled mess.

"Nana!" I snapped, throwing my hands up in disgust. "Why didn't you tell me you were this bad off?"

She groaned in response and I suddenly felt guilty for being angry. Stubbornness ran deep in our family, and it quite possibly stemmed from the miserable woman who lay in front of me. Nana never wanted to seem like a burden to anyone and was always putting everyone else first and leaving herself for last. Reaching out, I pressed my hand against her sweaty forehead to find her skin burning hot.

"What symptoms are you having?" I asked in a kinder voice.

Nana peered up at me through squinted, glassy eyes. Her glasses were missing from her slightly wrinkled face. I spied them sitting on the small table which held the lamp, remote control, and cordless phone.

"Fever, chills, nausea, back pain," she moaned as she wiggled around in the recliner.

Sighing, I yanked the old patchwork quilt from her protesting hands. "Okay, we're going to the doctor. Get your ass in gear."

"I'm not going to the doctor! I've got a cold!" she snapped, sounding very Alice-like as she rubbed her hands against her face. The small gold wedding band she still wore flashed beneath the light of the lamp. "Besides, the clinic is closed for the day."

I thought about her words for second pulling on a lock of my hair. She was right; the one clinic in our small town of Mayhaw closed around four o'clock. There was a clinic in one of the neighboring towns, but it was probably closed as well. There was only one solution and it was one I dreaded, but there was no other option.

"We'll go to the hospital in Birchwood," I decided aloud.

I reached out and grabbed the wooden handle on the side of the recliner and pulled at it, effectively causing the footrest to fall and my grandmother's limp body to pop up.

She began protesting loudly as she tried to convince me that she wasn't sick enough to go into Birchwood. It wasn't that she minded going on Cullen territory. She just wanted to wallow around in her own misery with the mind-set that she'd somehow get better on her own.

"Nana, you've had about a dozen kidney infections over the years," I reminded her, pulling her weak body up from where she sat. "Your doctor told you at your last appointment how dangerous it is to put off a kidney infection. Do you want to get septic and die?"

"Lord have mercy, child. I'm dying a little every day," she mumbled, standing unsteadily on her feet.

Thankfully she was fully dressed and it didn't take much more prodding to get her outside to my Jeep. That's when she started talking her crazy talk.

"Go to my bedroom and look in the back of the closet," she instructed, panting as I physically lifted her into the passenger side of the Jeep. "There's a safe in there. Take it and put in the back of your Jeep."

"Why do you want me to get your safe, Nana?" I asked patiently, unsure if the rambling was related to her fever or from her usual hysterics.

"Because, honey, I think I'm gonna die," she grunted, as I finished lifting her in the Jeep. Tears sprung to her eyes and I cocked an eyebrow as she began fanning herself dramatically. "That safe is crammed full of everything you need in case I do. My mother died at my age and now I'm gonna die!"

"Nana, Granny Swan died from a bad heart," I began, my voice lingering away as I watched her grab the keys from the ignition and shove them in the pocket of her khaki pants. "What are you doing with my keys?"

"Go get the damn safe or we're not leaving this driveway! Do you understand me, Isabella Marie Swan?" she hissed, as I went wide-eyed at her tone.

Nana grabbed my bright pink shirt that I still wore, not having changed after leaving the bakery. Wrenching me forward, her eyes went wild and I nodded solemnly, slightly terrified of my grandmother at that point.

Leaving her sitting in my Jeep, I shuffled back to the house. I stopped to grab the supper I'd cooked for her and shoved it in her old refrigerator. Muttering bitterly to myself, I treaded up the long wooden stairway to the second floor, making my way to her bedroom. My feet sank in the deep, beige shag carpet as I passed her bed that was covered in a wedding-band patterned quilt my great-grandmother made Nana when she married Papa Swan.

Her closet door was halfway open and I fumbled around in the dark. I grasped the cord that hang down from a single light bulb situated at the top of the closet. Soft, yellow light flooded the closet as I fell on my knees. My clumsy fingers fumbled around in the dim glow through the stacks of shoes that lined the floor until they hit something cool and metal hidden below the racks of clothes hanging down.

Shit! The safe was small, but the damn thing was heavy! It was about a foot and a half tall and a foot wide, but the weight more than made up for its lack of size. Tugging and pulling breathlessly I somehow managed to drag the small, gray safe to the stairway where I paused and silently debated how I would managed to lug it downstairs.

Muttering and cursing below my breath, I simply manned up and slowly backed down the stairs pulling the safe as I went. It bumped loudly against each step as I eventually made it to the bottom floor and somehow outside. My arms were like two limp noodles by the time it was safely deposited in the back of my Jeep. There was an old, dirty yellow hoodie stuffed under the passenger seat abandoned long ago by my spastic sister. I tossed the footprint-stained hoodie over the safe hiding it from the view of anyone in the parking garage at the hospital.

"What's in that safe, anyhow?" I asked my grandmother.

I clutched the steering wheel as we drove across that big bridge. My arms were still numb and my thoughts turned to Edward as the tall bridge brought back a flood of memories from the previous night.

My grandmother was silent for a long moment. The air was filled with the sounds of the rattling of the Jeep and the wind whipping in through the soft top. Nana's gaze was occupied by a forlorn barge that traveled in the distance down the muddy river.

"Lots of things," she finally murmured, her body shaking as the chills hit her again.

She turned to face me and I shot her a sideways glance. My brown eyes lingered on her blue ones before they turned back to the road ahead.

"You'll need that safe someday, sweetheart. It's full of all kinds of secrets. Don't tell anyone you have it. Do you understand me, Isabella? Don't you dare tell_ anyone_ you have that safe. Hide it somewhere...where no one would think to look. Okay?"

I met her gaze once more. The intensity of her stare sent chills through my body as I nodded numbly. It was probably the fever talking and not my actual grandmother, but the look in her eyes and her solemn voice...it terrified me.

As we traveled into Birchwood, my thoughts were no longer on Edward, as they were suddenly fixated on the contents of that safe. Little did I know that the contents of that safe wouldn't change my life, but the lives of everyone around me as well.

* * *

If you can't tell by the many mistakes that you just read, my awesome Beta is sick and couldn't Beta this chapter :( I loves you AliCat and hope you get better soon!

Thanks to **MrsAuburn Cullen** who is constantly pimping me on Facebook. You rock :)

And to my buddy **maliciouspixie5**- thanks for pimping me in The Dark Dance and for making me effing cry with what you wrote about me. I love making you smile my Southern sista ) Y'all check it out her story if you want something completely different from anything you've ever read before :)

Okay, so I gotta know...what do y'all think about Alice? Do y'all resent the way she acts? How do you feel about Bella taking on the mother role with Alice? Do you blame her for feeling as though she has to take care of her? And what's in that safe? It's something important, I can tell you that. But I'd like to hear your ideas about what it could be. Has Edward and Garrett figured out their true identities? I can tell you one thing; when y'all see Edward again it'll be explosive!

Peace and Love,

Jhood


	6. Chapter 6: The Calm Before the Storm

_Previously, in Chapter Five..._

_"You'll need that safe someday, sweetheart. It's full of all kinds of secrets. Don't tell anyone you have it. Do you understand me, Isabella? Don't you dare tell anyone you have that safe. Hide it somewhere...where no one would think to look. Okay?"_

_I met her gaze once more. The intensity of her stare sent chills through my body as I nodded numbly. It was probably the fever talking and not my actual grandmother, but the look in her eyes and her solemn voice...it terrified me._

_As we traveled into Birchwood, my thoughts were no longer on Edward, as they were suddenly fixated on the contents of that safe. Little did I know that the contents of that safe wouldn't change my life, but the lives of everyone around me as well._

* * *

_People need hard times and oppression to develop psychic muscles. _

_~Emily Dickinson~_

**Chapter Six: The Calm Before the Storm**

As it turns out, Nana did, in fact, have a kidney infection. We left the emergency room with a handful of written prescriptions and strict instructions for her to drink plenty of water.

Luckily there was a pharmacy in Mayhaw that stayed open pretty late so I didn't have to stop anywhere in Birchwood to get her prescriptions filled. The thought of spending too much time in the town terrified me. We crossed that big bridge over that muddy water back into my hometown and I breathed a massive sigh of relief.

Pulling into the local pharmacy, I ordered my whining, fidgeting, overly dramatic grandmother to stay put. I walked inside the pharmacy and waited patiently for the pharmacist to fill Nana's prescriptions. I grabbed a case of bottled water as I left.

For some reason the tap water where Nana lived tasted like a chlorinated catastrophe, plus my father convinced me at a young age that tap water caused cancer. Strange, I know, but then again my father was an odd duck.

I drove Nana home, helping her into the house and back into Papa Swan's old, worn recliner. After popping open the bottles, I handed Nana two pills and a bottle of water. I gave her strict instructions to follow the doctor's directions to a T. Nana was a stubborn woman always thinking she knew more than anyone else. She was the type to start feeling better and ditch the medication. She'd done it plenty of times before. My grandmother didn't like drugs...in any shape or form, even prescription drugs. Nana had her children to thank for that frame of mind.

She agreed to my demands avoiding my critical gaze. Scowling, I picked up her cordless phone and called Aunt Maggie. Even though she loved her weed and had Kate, her first-rate whore of a daughter, Maggie was the most stable of my relatives. After a run down of Nana's condition and listening to her bitch and moan over Nana's stubbornness, Maggie agreed to check in on her in a bit. We ended the call and I sat on the nearby plaid couch, watching my grandmother as the chills overtook her body once again. She pulled the patchwork quilt over her body and met my gaze.

"What?" Nana snapped.

She huffed angrily as she pulled her glasses from her face and placed them on the little table by her side. Grasping the wooden handle on the side of her chair, she leaned the recliner back and briefly closed her eyes.

"Are you in your right mind now?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as her eyes popped back open and narrowed on my own. "What's with the safe? Do you even remember watching me lug that heavy-ass safe in the backseat of the Jeep?"

"Yes, Bella, I remember," she muttered, scowling at my expression. "You're the only one I can trust with that safe. And you should do as I said. Hide it somewhere no one will think to look."

"Are you gonna tell me what's in the safe, Nana?" I asked, my voice softening a bit at her words.

She felt as though I were the only person she could trust. Those solemn words could move mountains, in my opinion. I knew she joked and carried on with the whole lot of us, promising that each of us were her favorite grandchildren, but I always secretly knew that she meant those words when it came to me. Nana was a feisty, smart-ass, but she had a good heart and I loved the woman more than anyone on the planet.

"It's not important right now, honey child," she assured me, closing her eyes once again as her voice slowly dwindled away at the end of her sentence. "You won't need it until I'm dead and gone."

I shivered at her words, unable to imagine a life without my grandmother in it. She began snoring lightly and I stood, tucking her mother's quilt snuggly around her sleeping form as I crept quietly from the house.

Jumping in my Jeep, I shot one last critical stare at the backseat where the safe sat. The dirty yellow hoodie was halfway hanging from the metal box. There was a combination lock on the door and I chuckled lightly, realizing that my crazy grandmother hadn't even given me the combination. I couldn't get into the blasted thing even if I tried.

After making my way home I crashed on the couch, stuffing my face with pita chips and salsa. Through the sliding glass doors nearby, I watched as the sky began to darken and the moon appeared, casting a white light over the dark lake below the sky. The moon and stars and the mythology of the constellations constantly fascinated me...and now they reminded me of Edward. I knew in my heart that, for the rest of my life, every time I'd stare into the night sky I'd be reminded of him, just as I was every time I glanced down at my lily tattoo. I was completely fucked.

Seeing him again made me question everything. The warm, tingling sensation that I got when he was near continued to exist, even after all these years. What did that mean? I'd always obsessed over Edward Cullen after all those years. Was this the result of a childish crush, a sick fantasy that I'd tried to bury long ago?

Eventually, I'd stopped drawing his face, his hands, his eyes...the lilies. I gave up on that childish fantasy, telling myself I was a true Swan, just as crazy as the rest. I loved my family, but I wasn't like them. Anytime I had thoughts of craziness or instability they were squashed, but I couldn't deny that the feelings I had for Edward Cullen continued to exist. They were buried deep within, but that didn't change the fact that they were still there.

It wasn't normal, those feelings I had for this boy I'd met twice in my lifetime. I'd read about things like that in the cheesy romance novels I'd learned to love over the years. I hid them beneath my bed in an attempt to cover up my Harlequin romance addiction from my little sister. Her teasing and pestering was the last thing I needed on top of everything else piled on my miserable existence.

If only there was some way I could...let go of those feelings for Edward Cullen. I racked my brain waiting for some brilliant idea to show up, but there was none. Lost deep in my own thoughts, I lay restlessly on the couch, pulling a blanket from where it lay neatly folded across the back. Tucking it around me I stared at the television until the movie went off, the screen eventually going black, unsure of what I'd even watched. Tossing and turning after hours upon hours of unwanted thoughts of Edward Cullen and his lips upon mine, I drifted into a deep sleep, my dreams filled with his touch.

When I woke up, it was late Sunday morning. I'd missed church and my sister was still not home.

Now, at first this didn't bother me. It wasn't the first time Mary Alice Swan didn't return from a hot date. But I was worried about the company she kept. The guy she left with was some random boy she met on Facebook. That wasn't a new thing either, but just as scary to someone like me.

Calling her cell, I scowled as it went directly to voicemail, the call either rejected or the phone dead. I assumed it was a rejected call, because my sister never left the house without her phone charger shoved in her knock-off designer purse.

After shooting her an ugly text message, I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning house and attempting to call the social security office about our missing check, only to remember that it was Sunday and they were, of course, closed. Remembering Alice's words, my fingers scrolled down the face of my cell phone, my thumb hovering over my mother's name. Snickering, I tossed the phone on the couch without another thought of calling my practically non-existent parent. If only Daddy were here...he'd never leave us in a mess like she had.

As evening approached, my worry over Alice increased. The last time she disappeared she hadn't come home for two days. It was the longest she'd ever been away. When she did arrive back home, she wasn't in the best frame of mind. She'd been strung out on God knows what, high as a kite, rambling about leprechauns and Cheetos. The guy who dropped her off burned rubber in our driveway when he saw me step out on the deck with my daddy's old sawed-off shotgun. I never saw that boy again.

Alice stayed like that for three days, wide awake and muttering below her breath about the weirdest shit. Her brown eyes were practically black as she lay on her back, laughing at nothing at all. She'd stare at the blades on the fan hanging above her bed, with her eyes swooping around in time as it spun. She refused medical treatment, hitting a paramedic over the head with a nearby frying pan when they tried to strap her to a stretcher. I'd called them in a panic when I couldn't physically put Alice in my Jeep.

Luckily, the pan was cheap and light, not causing any injuries to the small, blonde haired female paramedic. They left, stating that they couldn't take someone to the hospital who refused care. They still charged me for driving the ambulance to the house though. That was one of the many bills I continued to pay on a monthly basis. After whatever Alice took finally left her system she slept for five days straight.

"She'll come home," Kate said, her voice sounding far away in my cell phone. "Alice always comes home, eventually. If she's not back by tonight, call me and I'll help you find her."

I agreed, sighing and ending the call sitting on the front deck of our house watching the fish jump occasionally in the lake.

Worrying about Alice did help with one thing. I hadn't thought of Edward Cullen once the entire day.

It turned out I didn't even have to call Kate. She showed up on her own. She jumped out of her huge truck wearing fitted, ripped jeans and a black shirt, the bright red lips and tongue of The Rolling Stone's logo stretching against her big chest. Kate had a figure to die for, and no one knew it like her.

"I found Alice!" she announced, meeting me halfway between the deck to her truck.

I watched Kate anxiously as she took deep breaths. I demanded to know my sister's whereabouts, and was getting annoyed when Kate bent over with her hands on her knees ignoring me as she tried to breathe.

"Sorry," she mumbled, finally standing upright, pulling her phone from her back pocket. "I really need to lay off the weed for a while. It's gonna kick my ass when I start running track again."

"Anyway, I found Alice. Facebook gave me all the clues I needed. My status update asked if anyone has seen her and I got a few hits. Turns out she's at some random party in Oak Bluff."

Oak Bluff was a town a few miles south of Mayhaw where Kate and I sometimes partied together.

"How does she leave on a date and end up at a party the next night?" I asked worriedly.

Alice staying in one spot was typical, but moving from place to place was not. Kate shrugged, scrolling through her phone as I tried to call Alice one last time. Again, it went straight to her voicemail.

Shoving the phone in the back pocket of my shorts, I declared, "Okay, that's it! Let's ride to Oak Bluff and grab Alice. I'm starting to freak out a little. If she's in one of her...crazy spells everyone in Mayhaw's gonna know it by tomorrow. Nana's sick and that's all she needs is to worry about Alice more than she already does."

Kate was more than a little annoyed by my lack of concern over what I wore to pick up my kid sister. She scowled at my cut-off shorts, black tank top and hot pink flip-flops. I grabbed the 'oh, shit' handle and pulled myself up in her truck. I could care less what I wore, as I was only concerned with my sister at that moment.

Kate fired up the truck and pulled out of town. We passed a reflective green sign announcing our entrance into Oak Bluff. Oak Bluff was a tiny town only ten minutes away from Mayhaw, making most of the kids at both local high schools either rivals or best friends. Hopefully we wouldn't run into any trouble. High school football rivalry runs deep in the South, sometimes causing towns of the same size to become bitter enemies. Where I come from, people take football and other sports very seriously. The animosity between football rivals can last a lifetime.

Along the way, Kate announced that the party was hosted by none other than Tanya Daniels. I knew Tanya very well, mostly because I'd been to so many drunken parties at her house that I couldn't even keep track of them anymore.

Her mother worked night shift and her father skipped town right after she was born, making her house the perfect spot to throw down. Tanya's mother was a freaky-deak. No, seriously. She was a self-admitted MILF, having been caught with more than one of Tanya's boyfriends. And she even had a real stripper pole installed in her basement. I had a shameful, sorted history with the stripper pole, which I refused to acknowledge, because it was Marie riding that stripper pole, not Bella.

We pulled up on the side of the road. The driveway and both sides of the small, country road were packed with vehicles. The music from the modest, split-level home blared so loudly that the windows were shaking. Tanya lived in the woods far enough away that no neighbors could complain about the annoyance. Hordes of people, some teenagers, some older, stood outside smoking weed and drinking, laughing raucously at one another. Any worries of being underdressed suddenly fled my mind as we passed a group of pre-teens dressed more like hookers than anything else. They stared at my flip-flops, whispering and giggling among themselves until Kate shot them the infamous Swan glare. They stopped staring immediately, averting their eyes and suddenly looking anywhere besides at us. I chuckled quietly as Kate and I pushed our way through a crowd at the door, me mumbling my apologies and Kate scowling.

As we entered the living room, I wondered how in the hell Tanya planned on getting her house cleaned up before her mother came home from work. The living room was decorated in a safari-type theme, courtesy of Ms. Daniels, of course. The furniture was dark leather with horribly tacky cheetah, leopard, and even zebra print throws and other items strewn around the room.

What looked like a giant bear-skin rug lay in front of the fireplace, head still intact, which two guys took turns kicking. I watched aghast as one of the guys picked the heavy rug up and placed it on his back, the bear head perched perfectly on the top of his head. Growling and snarling, he began running around the room, snorting at everyone he passed. He snapped his teeth at me as he ran by and the smell of cheap beer lingered long after he passed.

"Unfasten your seat belts folks," Kate said dryly, raising one thin eyebrow. "We have officially arrived in Crazy Town."

"I concur," I mumbled.

Two muscular boys wearing rival high school football t-shirts suddenly began screaming and shouting at one another, the veins bulging over the thick muscles in their short necks. One pushed the other in the chest and a fight broke out. The two boys tumbled to the ground as they punched and wrestled one another.

Kate and I gasped as they rolled near our feet, shrieking and jumping out of the way just as they knocked over a large, red tribal vase. The vase toppled to the ground, scattering into large, jagged pieces.

Tanya finally made her presence known as she emerged from the dreaded basement. Tanya was very petite with shoulder length shiny auburn hair. She had the most killer curves I'd ever seen on a person: big boobs, round booty, and a tiny, tiny waist. Tanya dressed like a whore most of the time. I'd heard she had a record for being sent home from school the most for breaking the dress code. She wore a pair of hooker heels, matching pink skirt, and a low-cut top that rode up as her freckle-covered face turned red and she began screaming and cursing, throwing her hands in the air in frustration.

"Maybe we'll wait until later to ask her if she's seen Alice," Kate suggested with a humorous grin, snaking her arm through mine as we left the living room.

We searched high and low for Alice, even using Kate's debit card to break into the one room that was locked; a room that was occupied by two very disgruntled, very naked people. They gasped and then hollered, the girl hastily pulling a comforter over her flat chest. I was glad to know that I wasn't the only one with practically non-existent boobs.

"My bad," Kate said coolly, pulling the door shut and drowning out their screams.

The situation was funny, except for the dark cloud of dread that hung over the two of us as we glanced at one another, silently communicating that Alice was probably in the one place neither of us wanted to see, being sober and all.

"You know she's probably in the basement, right?" Kate asked, staring at my face carefully, her blue eyes troubled as she waited for my response.

She told me with her eyes what I already knew. We must go to the basement if we wanted to find Alice. Suddenly, I felt like I was in some freaky horror movie, except I could hear the viewers from inside the television. They were yelling, "Don't go in the basement, you idiot! Why do they always run upstairs or downstairs, but never run out of the house? Run out of the house, moron!" Fuck.

"Fine," I huffed, my eyes lingering towards where the basement door was located. Kids shuffled through the doorway and into the darkness. "I'll probably need a tetanus shot after this."

Kate nodded solemnly, quietly agreeing with my statement. She tossed her long, blonde mane over one shoulder and tilted her chin up. Linking her arm with mine once again, we marched to the basement door with a lot more swagger than what we were actually feeling.

The basement stairway was narrow, making it the culprit of numerous falls and accidents over the years. And when I say years, I mean years. Tanya Daniels started throwing these parties when she was around fourteen years old, the same time her mother started working night shift. I didn't meet Tanya until we were around seventeen years old when she started dating a mutual friend of ours.

Tanya was a very sweet person, if not a little bit of a doormat and a popularity whore. She was also a slut. Emmett once said he wouldn't screw her with a whole pack of rubbers on his dick at once. And Emmett would screw just about anyone.

Kate and I made our way down the narrow staircase to the basement below which was set up to look like an actual strip club. Yes, Ms. Daniels was a very, very naughty middle-aged woman. The infamous stripper pole and small stage sat near the far end of the room, a silver disco ball slowly twisting above, any nearby light reflecting off the tiny mirrors. The dim beams of light scattered across the patrons in the room. There was no one currently straddling the pole, thank God. I shuddered as memories of a night months ago flashed through my mind.

Neon lights ran everywhere; electric blue ran along the length of the stage that jutted out into the middle of the room. There were neon signs covering the walls, shaped as women, their pink, purple and blue bodies posing in various positions. Some were on their backs with their legs in the air, others lounging inside cocktail glasses. The largest neon sign read 'The Candy Shoppe' in pink scroll, the words flashing at times.

There were small, round wooden tables and cushy chairs surrounding the stage. The air was thick with the smell of weed and sex. The basement was large, running the length of the house, and Kate and I began pushing past the crowds of people as we searched for Alice. I averted my eyes from a group of guys watching as a girl straddled a nearby couch, getting pounded from behind by a much older looking guy.

"And you call me a whore," Kate yelled over the sound of Lil Wayne thumping from the speakers nearby. "I have enough self-respect to do my business in private."

"I think she's baked," I muttered, glancing at the girl one last time.

Aw, yeah. She was high as a kite. I hoped it was from her own weed and not from someone slipping something in her drink. That's how I'd ended up on the pole that ill-fated night. If not for Kate, I'd probably be dead by now...or pregnant with some unknown guy's baby.

Kate glanced at the girl and hummed in agreement. We continued our search for Alice, passing a huge bar where a familiar face helped himself to a bottle of liquor sitting on a nearby shelf.

"Benjamin, what in the hell are you doing here!" Kate hissed, slapping our cousin on the arm as he gave a yelp.

He narrowed his eyes at her, taking a long sip from the clear bottle before sitting it down on the bar.

"I've been calling you all day looking for Alice! Why didn't you answer!" Kate said.

"I've been busy," he said, shrugging, his dark chocolate eyes lazy and hooded from his daily extracurricular activities. "I'm working for Uncle Aro now, so I had to make some runs today. And if the two of you were smart, you'd be working for him too, making some real bank. Especially you, Bella. Unless working at the cake shop for the rest of you life is what you really wanna do."

I glared at my very blunt cousin, who gave me a lazy smirk and took another swig from the bottle. It was no secret to anyone that I was going nowhere in life, not as long as I had Alice to take care of and my grandmother's shop to help maintain. But I'd be damned if I ever stooped so low to sell drugs for my uncle. That'd be a cold day in hell.

"Where's Alice?" I asked impatiently, ignoring his comment.

He grinned at my sly attempt to disregard his remark and nodded to the far corner of the room.

"She's been talking to that fucking plant for an hour. I think I saw her making out with it once," he laughed. Kate began screaming at our cousin, calling him a 'fucktard' as I quickly abandoned the two of them, headed in the direction where Benjamin nodded.

There sat my tiny, baby sister. She was curled up with her arms wrapped around her knees, her face buried in the tall, potted plant beside her. The long, black tresses she normally kept so perfectly curled hung limp and lifeless, flowing around her shoulders with several strands hanging across her face. Every breath she exhaled blew one of the lifeless curls to the side, for it only to fall back again. Alice's funky, glittery eyeshadow was smeared across her face, as was the thick, black eyeliner that she wore. She was still wearing that hideous pink corset-thing and the matching cowboy boots.

"Alice!" I hissed, grabbed her shoulders and giving her a firm shake. Her head rolled to one side and then back again as she quietly moaned.

"Alice! Wake up! Party's over. It's time to go!"

Kate's skinny legs appeared by my side. Kate heaved a sigh and stooped over, bending down to place her mouth right against my sister's ear.

"Get the fuck up, Alice! The building's on fire!" Kate yelled in her ear.

Alice's hazy eyes immediately snapped open and began darting around in confusion. Panic budded up in her face and I grasped her cold hand and gave it a squeeze to calm her down.

"There's no fire," I assured her, shooting a smirking Kate a dirty look. "But it is time to go home. Where's your purse?"

There was no sense in asking her to explain where she'd been or why she'd failed to call or answer her phone. Alice was obviously drunk from the way her eyelids fluttered occasionally and she swayed slightly in place. I wouldn't be getting any long, drawn out explanations from her anytime soon.

"Paul's car," she answered, pointing a tiny finger into the dense crowd.

I followed the direction she was pointing and noticed the very same guy who'd picked her up for their date the night before standing amongst the group of guys watching the girl getting hit from behind, doggy-style.

Furious that he'd left my sister alone, drunk in the corner of the basement from hell, I stomped across the room, grabbing him by his arm. He swung around, beer in hand, looking surprised and peeved at the sudden interruption of the real-life porno happening in front of him.

"I need Alice's purse," I demanded, willing my heart to slow down. 'I'm her sister."

There was a million things I wanted to say to this asshole, but he had something that belonged to my sister and insulting him probably wouldn't help.

The peeved look left his face and was replaced by a flirtatious grin. His eyes traveled up the short length of my body and I frowned at the audacity of this kid, blatantly checking out his date's sister.

Placing my hands on my hips I gave him an adamant, "No."

He looked confused, and said, "No, what?"

"To whatever it is running through your head. No. Now where's my sister's purse? I'd like to get out of this stink-hole as soon as possible."

He gave me a long, hard look, his hazel eyes narrowing at my words.

Placing a beer up to his lips he shrugged and said, "I'd like to help you, really I would. But, as you can see, I'm a little busy."

And with that he turned away, thoroughly disregarding me. He snickered to himself, his eyes back on the girl who had changed positions. She was spread eagle in front of the group with the older guy crouched down between her legs going to town on her with his mouth.

At that point I was ready to give up and get the hell out of Dodge. I could care less if Alice ever saw her purse, cell phone or whatever else she carried on her ever again. It was time to roll out because I couldn't stand one more second in the Daniels' Den of Sex. Walking back over to Kate, I told her it was time to bounce.

She nodded and the two of us hoisted Alice up on her feet, pulling her arms over each of our shoulders. She teetered a bit on her boots and stumbled against the two of us as we practically dragged her nimble feet across the room.

"I want my plant! Can't I take the plant, Bella?" Alice whined.

"It's not your plant, Alice. That plant belongs in the sex den. It probably has ten different diseases on it. You're taking a bleach bath when we get home," I scowled, dragging her tiny, protesting body to the stairs.

It was hard as hell getting her up those damn stairs, but somehow we did it. We were just about halfway down the driveway when she started murmuring.

"That's Paul's car. My purse is in Paul's car. Get my purse, Sissy."

Fuck. When Alice called me 'Sissy' it did strange things to me. It reminded me of our childhood and the desire to always defend and protect her from anything life threw her way. When I spotted Paul's piece of shit car parked precariously in the driveway something snapped inside me and I pushed Alice fully into Kate's arms. I pulled at the handle of the car with no such luck.

Glancing around the yard I noticed a nearby flowerbed with huge, white rocks lining it. I walked over to the flowerbed and picked one up. The weight of the rock practically brought me to my knees. Walking back to the car I noticed a handsome, slightly familiar looking blonde-haired guy standing nearby, beside his truck, keys in hand, staring at me with wide, blue eyes. He was the only person nearby.

"Is there a problem?" I asked, tilting my head to the side. He shook his head and I nodded, muttering, "Good."

Then I carelessly swung my arms, releasing the rock. It sailed a short distance, cutting through the air and smashing directly into the passenger window.

I saw the guy cringe from the corner of my eye, but I ignored him. Reaching in the broken window I pulled up the manual locks. Alice's purse was in the backseat and I grabbed it, shutting the car door behind me. Kate was struggling holding Alice up, so I quickly slung the purse over one shoulder and helped her.

"Do y'all need some help gettin' her in the car?" the blonde guy asked.

I'd already forgotten he was there. Kate and I exchanged looks and shrugged. He walked with us to the truck, a worried expression on his face as his eyes constantly drifted to Alice. I found this strange, but somehow not upsetting. He possibly knew or was friends with my sister. He did look somewhat familiar...

I kept watching him in my peripheral, trying to figure out where I knew him from. He was good-looking, with a friendly smile and sparkling blue eyes. He had that typical shaggy, unkempt hair, curled up at the base of his neck like most of the country boys around there. A plain, black tee and slightly worn, faded jeans graced his lean, slightly athletic body. The brown leather boots on his feet were scuffed. The leather surface was cracked from years of use or hard labor. I searched my brain for where I knew this guy from, but came up with nothing.

We reached the truck and the guy took Kate's place holding Alice up as she unlocked the truck and pulled the back door of the cab open. All three up us struggled to put her in the backseat.

Eventually, the guy gently placed her over his shoulder, grabbing the 'oh-shit' handle and brought the two of them up to the truck. Carefully, he lay her in the backseat, her eyes fluttering open as he caught her head with his long fingers and cautiously lay it down against the soft leather. Alice stared up at him, her deep brown eyes lighting up and a beautiful smile adorning her face.

"I've been waiting on you," she whispered, reaching up and cupping her small hands on his cheeks.

He visibly stiffened, his mouth falling open a bit as Alice continued to gaze up at him.

"I'm...I'm sorry," he stuttered, placing his hands on her wrists and removing her hands from his face. "I don't think I know you. You must have me mixed up with someone else."

Alice frowned, shook her head and said, "No, it's you. You don't know me? You haven't seen me before?"

"No. Like I said, I'm sorry," he apologized.

His face suddenly looked slightly pale as he began backing off my sister, slowly easing out of the cab. Alice sat up, her big eyes suddenly full of tears.

"Well, I've seen you. In my dreams. I've seen you a million times," she said, tears flooding her eyes and running down her cheeks.

She began to sob and the guy stiffened again, before taking a step back to the truck. Alice dropped her face in her hands, her body now shuddering as she cried. God, she was pathetic. Embarrassed by her actions, I felt like that was the perfect time to interrupt.

"My sister is drunk," I explained, jumping in front of him to shut the cab door.

This snapped Alice from her sobs as she threw herself against the glass and started whacking her tiny fists on the tinted glass window. When Alice started talking about her erratic dreams she completely freaked me out, mostly because they sometimes came true. Kate and I exchanged a knowing glance. Kate ran around the truck, jumped behind the wheel, and fired it up just as I pulled myself inside.

"Wait..." the guy said, running his fingers through his hair as he stared at the dark window that my sister was trapped behind.

The guy had this torn look about him, as though he wanted to say something but was unsure of himself. His handsome face was drawn in distress. I remedied the situation by slamming the door of the truck as Kate backed up the driveway.

"What's your name?" he yelled at Alice's window, finally snapping out of his trance.

Alice popped open the window of the cab, pressing her mouth near the tiny opening, screaming, "Alice Swan! What's your name?"

The boy visibly paled and muttered, "Jasper. Jasper Hale."

Alice beamed at him with her eyes glazed over and shouted, "I love you Jasper Hale! And don't keep me waiting again!"

The boy stood in the driveway for a moment before slowly backing up, turning, and darting to the tall, gray pickup truck that he'd stood at when he spotted me throw a rock through that shitty car window.

"Fuck, I think he's gonna follow us," Kate muttered.

She pulled onto the road and stomped the gas, effectively terrorizing a few of the party stragglers into a nearby ditch. She grinned and flipped them off as we peeled down the road, slinging rocks behind us.

"You can't say crazy shit like that to strangers, Alice," Kate scolded. "It freaks people the hell out."

"He's not a stranger!" Alice insisted, breaking away from her observations of the road behind us long enough to glare at the back of Kate's head. "I've seen him a million times, just like I said! That's the guy of my dreams! And he's coming for me...and a storm is coming with him!"

Alice's strange words hung thick in the air. The truck was quiet for a while. Alice was lost in her own crazy head, thoughts of the handsome boy possibly tracking us down running through her brain. Kate stared silently ahead, concentrating on flying down the road without getting us killed. My mind was busy trying to remember where I knew that boy from. It was somewhere recent, his face still fresh in my mind. When I finally remembered where I'd seen him, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I shot straight up in my seat, gasping, tugging anxiously at a long lock of brown hair.

"What is it?" Kate asked, her gaze never leaving the road in front of us.

Glancing in the backseat I noticed Alice was caught up in her own little world, her face plastered against the back glass as she searched desperately behind us for any sign of the guy we'd left behind.

"That guy," I whispered, my voice keeping even with the sound of Jason Aldean jamming from the speakers. "He was one of the guys with Edward and Garrett at the party."

Yes, I remembered Edward walking into the party in Birchwood with two other guys. The three of them looked like rock stars as girls drooled over them and guys stared, impressed by them. Garrett was one of the guys with Edward and the blonde I recognized as the other guy. Kate's eyes widened and I knew that she was wondering the same thing as me; was this guy a Cullen? Maybe he was somehow related to them? Friends with them?

A ear-splitting squeal broke me from my thoughts and caused me to gasp and jump in my seat a little. The truck swerved slightly and a low curse escaped Kate's mouth.

"Alice, what the..." but the words never left my mouth.

As I turned in my seat to scold my little sister, who bounced and laughed in the backseat, I spied a set of headlights behind us quickly gaining speed.

"I told you he'd come for me!" she sighed dreamily, leaning against the seat, a whimsical look on her face. "It's the storm I'm worried about," she continued with a frown, glancing from my face to Kate's in the review mirror.

"It started with y'all. What did y'all do? You did something really stupid, didn't you? Bella, you're not supposed to do stupid stuff! Bad Bella! When the storm comes everything is gonna go to hell, and it's all your fault!" She had an eerie edge to her voice that gave me the chills.

Shivering, I gulped and avoided Kate's wide-eyed gaze, nodding to the road. She pursed her lips, hit the gas and left the headlights far behind. Alice was right. A storm was brewing. And it wouldn't be long before it hit us like a hurricane...or a tornado.

* * *

Praise the Lord! AliCat0623, bless her heart, felt well enough to Beta this chapter for me. Thanks sista :)

Are y'all ready to see Edward in every chapter? I hope so, cause he's coming...and he's bringing the storm with him ;)

Review and tell me what you thought about the chapter.

Peace ;)

Jhood


	7. Chapter 7: Bring on the Rain

_Previously, in Chapter Six..._

_"It started with y'all. What did y'all do? You did something really stupid, didn't you? Bella, you're not supposed to do stupid stuff! Bad Bella! When the storm comes everything is gonna go to hell, and it's all your fault!" She had an eerie edge to her voice that gave me the chills._

_Shivering, I gulped and avoided Kate's wide-eyed gaze, nodding to the road. She pursed her lips, hit the gas and left the headlights far behind. Alice was right. A storm was brewing. And it wouldn't be long before it hit us like a hurricane...or a tornado._

* * *

_Sometimes I wonder if love is worth fighting for, but then I remember your face and I'm ready for war._

_~Author Unknown~_

**Chapter Seven: Bring on the Rain**

"Put it in your mouth, Bella!"

"No, Emmett! It smells funny..."

"You'll love it! Just give it a try!" Emmett said.

"It looks strange..." I said.

"Come on. Don't be such a pussy. Put it in your mouth and just let the juices flow, baby. Swallow it down. I know you can do it."

"I've never seen meat that dark."

"Don't be scared of the dark meat. It's the best kind. You know what they say...the blacker the berry the sweeter the juice."

"As a black women I'm offended by that remark," my friend Angie joked, mock glaring at Emmett. She flipped her long, silky black hair over her shoulder, her brown eyes twinkling.

"Fine...I'll do it," I relented with a big sigh, taking a delicate bite of the sandwich Emmett handed me.

It looked like a regular old barbeque sandwich...except it didn't. He stared at me with a simultaneous mixture of wide-eyed wonder and seriousness. But who can take a person seriously who wears camouflage pants and a shirt that reads 'When the zombies come I'm so tripping you'?

"It's gamey," I groaned, wrinkling my face in disgust. "And not a good gamey. It's a _disgusting_ gamey. What in the hell_ is_ this?"

"Barbequed raccoon!" he boasted proudly, standing tall over me where I sat on the front deck of our house facing the lake. "Made by yours truly."

He pointed his thumb proudly at his massive, muscled chest as my face paled, a lump of thick barbeque wedged in my throat.

Gagging, I flew from my chair, ran across the deck, and leaned over the wooden rail. My stomach rolled as I spit and retched. Emmett, Alice, and Angie howled with laughter as I cursed and heaved before grabbing someone's forgotten beer sitting on the deck rail, swishing some in my mouth then spitting it out.

"I'm gonna kill you, Em!" I hollered, jumping on his back like a spider monkey, beating him with my fists as he laughed.

Easily three times my size, Emmett smoothly removed me from his back and sat me down in my chair, leaving me huffing and glaring at him from where I sat.

It'd been a week since searching for and finding my sister at Tanya Daniels's party. Alice eventually fell asleep on the way home with no more strange ranting and raving escaping her lips. Kate helped me put her to bed that night. When Alice awoke the next morning, it was as though nothing ever took place. I'd been too scared to bring it up again. Visions of the blonde boy trying to trail us still flashed in my mind from time to time. If he were a somehow related to the Cullen family, it was best Alice didn't know.

I was pretty impartial when it came to the Cullens. I was unsure who to blame for my father's death, but Alice was different. She blamed them all...with gusto. The mere mention of the Cullen name sent her into a frenzy. Alice hated them not only for our father's demise, but for our mother's departure as well. No, it was best she didn't know the blonde guy's possible identity.

The week went by pretty smoothly. There were no more random phone calls from Garrett to 'Cassie,' which seemed to disappoint her a bit from the way she moped around the cake shop.

It turned out that the fretting over our missing check was in vain. After calling the Social Security office I spoke with a representative who promised to work everything out with our missing check. Somehow it was mistakenly deposited into someone else's account. The money was placed in my account by Wednesday. I paid all the bills right on time, taking some of life's heavy weight off my shoulders.

Nana Swan felt so much better that she came back to work on Tuesday with a big grin on her face. She continued to refuse to discuss the matter of the safe she'd forced upon me.

I'd found the perfect place to hide Nana's safe, although it was somewhat of a struggle. I simply wrapped the safe in several garbage bags and buried it underneath a huge white oak near a tiny stream that ran near our property line. An old, rusty barbwire fence marked where our property line ended. I tied a small, pink ribbon on the wire next to the tree to remind myself of where the safe was located.

It was Friday night and we were all hanging out on the deck of our house. It was an old ritual we hadn't practiced in a while. Emmett declared it a night of debauchery with underage drinking and gratuitous drug use. Nothing heavy, of course. Just a little weed courtesy of Benjamin who was passed out on a lounge chair.

We'd checked his pulse several times. Angie even held a compact under his nose to make sure he was still breathing. Although he looked a little dead, he was very much alive.

Alice had the brilliant idea to draw on his face while he was unconscious. She was perching on his lap with a black liquid eyeliner pen in her tiny hand. A Hitler-type mustache was drawn above his upper lip, and Emmett even took a turn writing 'I Luv Bizkits' across his forehead. Angie was busily snapping photos of him on her phone, and posting them on Facebook as she chuckled evilly below her breath.

To put it simply, we were having a fuck-awesome Friday night...at least until the raccoon incident.

"Don't be mad at me, Bella," Emmett laughed as I continued to scowl at him.

"Those raccoons are mean as hell. They deserved to die. They were eating the vegetables out of Nana's garden so I set up a live trap and put them out of their misery. It was very humanitarian, really," Emmett declared, letting out a disgusting belch.

"I hear they're very clean animals," Alice quipped, turning from where she was perched in Benjamin's lap and smirking at the perturbed look on my face.

Alice was drawing an intricate spider-web like tattoo on Benjamin's neck with the eyeliner pen as he snored. Sketching was once a favorite pastime of mine, which was resurrected by a certain green-eyed person who shall remain nameless, but everyone knew Alice was the real artist in the family.

"I think they eat shit. How is that clean?" I snarled.

I snatched up my red Solo cup and took a swig as Alice finished her artwork and left Benjamin's lap. She joined Angie and I at the table. Emmett leaned against the deck rail grinning like an opossum.

"Angie, put on some of that old school hippity hop music," Emmett bellowed, removing his shirt to reveal his huge chest. "Something that I can dance to. Get your phones ready girls. I'm fixin' to show y'all something epic."

Angie rolled her eyes but did as he asked. She slowly strolled inside the house through the sliding glass doors. The outside speakers began booming an old familiar tune, the sound reverberating over the still lake and filling the deep, still woods with the lyrics of T-Pain.

I laughed, forgetting my momentary anger with my cousin, I grabbed my phone and began recording. Em sauntered seductively to where Benjamin sat, sprawled out in the lounge chair, his head tipped sideways. Benjamin's mouth was hanging open and he snored loudly, a trail of drool trickling from one corner of his mouth.

Em straddled his legs, languidly swaying his hips from side to side with the rhythm of the music. Grabbing a hand full of Benjamin's hair, he began thrusting himself towards Ben's sleeping face. The unconscious boy never woke up. Fluttering his eyelashes, Emmett slung his black zombie shirt helicopter-style over his head as he gyrated to the beat.

Em let go of our cousin's dark curls and watched as his head lolled to the side. Emmett slowly turned around, his back to Benjamin, and squatted over his lap. Grinning for the cameras, he began frantically popping his ass on Benjamin's lap as we howled in laughter.

"I'm in love with a stripperrrr!" we sang in a broken, off-key chorus.

Em spun around, propped one boot on the arm rest of the chair, and began thrusting his crotch towards Benjamin's drunken, slack face. Em looked over one shoulder and grinned, flashing his pearly-whites and licking his lips for the cameras.

"YouTube, FaceBook, this is going everywhere!" Alice laughed, holding her phone in the air as she recorded Emmett's provocative dance.

Em grabbed Benjamin's head once again, thrusting and moaning loudly, throwing his head back in mock ecstasy. He sounded more like a howling, dying dog than anything else. Tears streamed down my face as I laughed.

After the song ended, Em grabbed the eyeliner pen from the table and wrote 'Ped-o-file' on one of Benjamin's bare cheeks before he was thoroughly satisfied with our cousin's inevitable humiliation.

"Let's put him in one of the skids and see how long it takes him to wake up and realize he's in the middle of the lake," Emmett suggested, his brown eyes twinkling at his brilliant idea.

"Um, what if he wakes up, falls in the lake and drowns, Em?" I asked as I seemed to be the only voice of reason within our group.

Emmett glared at me. "You're such a buzz kill, man."

"Dude, why? Because I don't want my cousin to drown?" I snapped, rolling my eyes and lighting a cigarette.

Normally I wasn't much of a smoker, except for the occasional blunt, but sometimes I broke down and smoked a cigarette, especially if I'd been drinking.

"Maybe he's already dead," Angie mused. "I haven't seen him breath in a hot minute."

We all stopped what we were doing to stare at Benjamin who, eventually, let out a grizzly-like snore.

"Nah, he's good," I muttered, taking a deep drag, tipping my head back and watching the smoke swirl out of my mouth into the tranquil June air.

"Okay, how about we put him in the blow-up raft and push him in the pool?" Em suggested, anxious to humiliate our cousin even further, and quite possibly also wanting to terrify him to death. "That way if he falls in we can get to him in time."

Pulling on his zombie shirt he shot us all a perverse grin. We all sat quietly for a moment and exchanged thoughtful glances before I finally spoke up.

"That'll work," I declared with a nod.

Emmett let out a war cry as he picked Benjamin up from where he slouched and threw him over his shoulder as though he weighed nothing. Benjamin never flinched.

We followed Emmett down to the small, rectangular pool near the lake, snickering as he gently lay Benjamin in the raft, even cradling his head so not to hurt him. Emmett and I shoved him off the edge of the pool into the water, giggling as the action simply caused Benjamin to snore louder.

Alice and Angie continued to record him with their phones as he drifted peacefully beneath the fat, white, Mississippi moon. The raft cast small ripples over the surface of the water.

We sat around the pool for a while, dangling our naked feet in the cool water while chatting and waiting in anticipation for Benjamin to wake up and have his inevitable freak-out.

Alice and Angie uploaded their videos online. I didn't because I was a firm believer that FaceBook was the devil. If you lived with Alice Swan you'd agree. Watching her stalk people on the mobile app for hours on end was enough to make a person yank their hair out in frustration.

Instead of uploading videos, I spent my time warily eyeing my cousin. He lay sleeping contently in the banana yellow raft with a pink plastic duck child's float wrapped around his head, courtesy of Emmett.

All became quiet for a while as I stared up at the blanket of stars hanging above me. I began silently identifying my favorite constellations, which immediately reminded me of someone I'd prefer to not think about. Pushing his face from my mind, I continued to watch the twinkling from above.

My sister's sudden movement to my left suddenly snapped me out of my thoughts. Alice jumped up from where she perched near the pool, pulling her dainty feet from the water as she stood up to her full height just over five feet tall. As I gazed up at her in confusion, I noticed the moon directly behind her. Her body was a mere silhouette framed in the middle of the giant glowing orb.

A wild, chillingly familiar look flashed across her face causing me to shiver. Angie noticed as well and shot me a worried look. Angie and I screamed as a sudden flash of lightning streaked across the sky, completely illuminating us all in a brilliant white light before fading away. It was followed by an ear-popping clap of thunder that quaked the earth around us. Alice remained still, staring into space.

"It's here...the storm's here," Alice mumbled, her eyes fixed on nothing.

I glanced uneasily at our small group and was met with anxious faces similar to my own. My sister's strange predictions made Emmett especially nervous. His eyebrows were drawn in concern as he too watched Alice. She stood still as a statue, as though she were in a trance.

I grabbed Alice's hand, shaking her slightly and trying to bring her back from whatever planet she was on. Alice seemed to snap out of whatever zone she was in as she abruptly peered down at me.

"What?" she snapped, huffing and crossing her arms across her chest.

I didn't get a chance to respond, not that I'd known what to say to her anyway, because her phone started chirping alerting her of an incoming text. Alice darted to the table where her phone sat. She grabbed her phone and plopped down on a chair while Emmett and I exchanged concerned glances. Emmett shrugged, turning his head to the sky with his brow wrinkled, and watched as storm clouds slowly drifted across the white moon.

"Oh, shit!" Alice hissed, glaring down at her phone. "Mike Newton just sent a group message telling everyone that some Birchwood kids are in Mayhaw trying to start some trouble..."

Alice's voice trailed off as Emmett and I stood up and walked over to where she sat. Her face slowly turned red, illuminated by the tiny lights surrounding the pool.

"Including the Cullens," she finished, her dark eyes flashing up at mine.

Alice's lips were drawn into a frown and her small features looked entirely menacing as her words soaked in. My body froze, the blood in my veins suddenly feeling like ice water. The Cullens were in Mayhaw? Could..._he_ be in Mayhaw? And if he was there, was it because of_ me_?

I tried to discretely catch Angie's attention with my stare, but she was so absorbed with the look on Alice's face that she never looked my way. Besides Kate, Angie was the only one I'd confessed my secret attraction to. Because Angie had secret attractions of her own, I knew she'd be sympathetic and non-judgmental to my predicament.

"The Cullens are in Mayhaw? Hell, yeah! That's all I need to hear to make my night freaking _perfect_!" Emmett declared with a grin.

It didn't take much to get Emmett riled up. A little weed and a lot of beer and he was down for whatever, including a good fight. Personally, I avoided fighting at all costs. I couldn't blame him for his way of thinking...not really. When you live in a small, Southern town there's not much else to do besides kiss, cuss, drink, smoke, and fight. And Emmett did it all. He revealed in it.

It was my phone to ring next and I heard Emmett cursing and moaning. He removed his own phone from his pocket and held it in the air as though he were trying to get a signal, possibly peeved that he was somehow left out of the loop. He began muttering that he had no cell service. I snatched the phone from my pocket and glanced down at the screen to see Kate's fishy-mouth expression glowing in my hand. Why everyone made that stupid face in photos was beyond me.

"Hello?" I mumbled, my mind still reeling over the fact that the Cullens were in Mayhaw.

Emmett continued to rant and rave.

"Bella, where are you? Are Emmett and Benjamin with you?" Kate fretfully asked.

Her voice sounded abnormally nervous and close to tears, causing me to sit up straight in my chair and frown as I caught Emmett's eyes.

"I'm at home. Yeah, they're here but Benjamin's currently...indisposed at the moment," I said, casting my eyes over to Benjamin who continued to drift peacefully in the pool, his long limbs hanging limply over the edges as he snored harshly.

Kate began murmuring and crying before I heard a childlike squeal leave her mouth with the distinct sound of a struggle in the background. Horror washed over me, causing me to shoot up to my feet. Blood drained from my face at the sound of a scuffle taking place. I clinched the phone in my hand and began to pace back and forth frantically as everyone stared at me worriedly.

"Hello?" an unfamiliar male voice said.

Kate cried in the background.

"Who is this? Where is Kate? Put her on the phone now!" I yelled frantically, meeting the confused eyes of the others.

"Pffftttt. Kate's fine. She just didn't wanna let go of the phone," the voice laughed, sounding slightly drunk.

His words caused me to slow my pacing and I found myself at a standstill, my heart hammering away at my chest.

"You best not hurt Kate" I hissed, my forehead breaking into a cold sweat.

Wiping the wetness from my face with the back of my hand, I turned away from the prying eyes of my relatives and waited for a response. The male voice ignored my demand.

"Tell Emmett and Benjamin to meet us at the old train station. We have some business to discuss. And make sure you come with them, that is if you want to see your cousin again."

With that he ended the call, leaving me standing there with my mouth gaping open. I frantically pressed Kate's name on the phone screen with my thumb waiting impatiently for her or the male voice to answer, but it went straight to voice mail each time. The desire to scream in frustration was overwhelming, but I tried to remain calm because once I told Emmett, Angie, and Alice what was going on, they'd flip.

"What's going on?" Alice asked, her eyes as big as saucers as she studied my expression.

"I...I think the Cullens have Kate," I gasped, frantically trying to call her once more, cursing below my breath as it went to voicemail yet again.

"Some guy took her phone. They're at the old train station. He wants you and Benjamin to meet him there." I glanced up at Emmett as I said this.

"Shit!" Em exclaimed, dropping to his knees, reaching out into the pool and yanking on the white rope that drooped from the side of the life raft that Benjamin lay asleep in.

Pulling the raft close to the edge of the pool, Emmett began shaking Ben and screaming his name. Benjamin continued to snore peacefully, unaware of Kate's possible hostage situation. Emmett became quite agitated, grabbing the side of the life raft and hoisting it over, dumping Ben into the cool, clear water below.

Ben came out of the water, coughing and sputtering. Pure shock, then anger graced his face. The black, normally tousled curls on his head were plastered against his face. His brown eyes darted around in malice. The eyeliner melted down his face and neck leaving a wavering black mess on his skin.

"What the hell, man!" he hollered, his eyes automatically locking on Emmett's in accusation.

"The Cullens have Kate at the old train station! Let's go!" Emmett hollered, his voice tinged in panic.

The anger dissipated from Ben's face. Ben's eyes went from narrow little slits to wide-eyed astonishment and then horror as Emmett's words sank in. Sluggishly, he made his way through the water to the pool steps. His clothes clung uncomfortably to his body as he emerged from the water.

"Y'all call everyone you can!" Em bellowed over his shoulder, darting behind Benjamin and jumping into his truck.

He spun down the long driveway. The truck veered wildly at an alarming speed. I cringed, terrified of the thought of my frantic cousins crashing the vehicle in their haste.

Alice and Angie immediately started updating their Facebook statuses, alerting everyone of what was going on down at the old abandoned train station. I was too frantic to call anyone. My hands trembled at the thought of Kate being possibly injured. Alice muttered that she sent a group text to everyone in her phone as the three of us darted across the lawn, crawling into my Jeep. I'd left the top off which I normally did in the summer. The air smelled of rain but I didn't have it in me to worry about a possible downpour at that moment.

"Are you alright to drive?" Angie asked quietly as my Jeep roared to life.

I nodded glumly, my thoughts on Kate. At that moment I swore on my father's grave that if someone hurt her I'd kill them. My body was on autopilot as I changed gears and shoved my foot against the gas pedal.

Pushing the Jeep to the limit, we flew down the old country roads towards the train station which stood near the edge of town near the Tombigbee River. The wind slapped my long hair across my face leaving it stinging and sore.

We pulled into the old train station, which had been left abandoned years ago. It became a hangout for the local kids who enjoyed sitting on the platform drinking beer on the weekends and spraying graffiti on the old, wooden building. An ancient Coke machine still stood on the platform. It was a faded, rusty, burnt-red color in its old age. A dozen or so cars and trucks sat on each side of the lot. Mayhaw kids were on one side and the unfamiliar kids from Birchwood were on the other.

I pulled in next to the familiar looking vehicles of the kids I went to high school with. I spotted Kate's truck parked precariously near the train station, her driver's side door slightly ajar. I could tell the vehicle was abandoned by the dim light that shone from the inside of the truck where no one sat.

Emmett's large red truck was parked next to it. As we pulled up to the station, headlights shone against my rearview mirrors. Vehicles flowed in behind me as I pulled up next to where Emmett and Benjamin stood near his truck. I breathed a sigh of relief as I noticed Emmett had his arm wrapped around a sobbing Kate. The TPT twins, Jessica and Lauren, stood by Kate staring at her somberly.

Kate was one of the strongest people I knew. Kate had to be strong; she was constantly pulled into the police station for questioning over her father's alleged illegal activities. My heart wrenched. It took a lot to make Kate cry.

In the middle of the dirt parking lot stood two guys, one of which I recognized immediately. He was the same shaggy-haired boy from the party in Birchwood, the same shaggy-haired boy from the party in Mayhaw...the same shaggy-haired boy who Alice claimed was the man of her dreams. Jasper Hale.

Standing beside him was a guy around my age. He was about six feet tall with dark blonde hair slicked back against his head making him look like a younger version of a shade-tree car salesman. The evil glint in his pale blue eyes caused me to swallow nervously. He and Jasper glared distastefully in Emmett's direction.

I found myself scanning the many faces of the other kids who stood behind them, searching in vain for Edward's face. Why? Honestly, I secretly hoped he was there so I could selfishly get one more glance of his handsome face. But I was also terrified to see him as well. If he were there and didn't already know my true identity, he would by the end of the night. The truth of that weighed heavily on me and I was overcome with simultaneous relief and sadness as I realized his face wasn't among the large group of kids facing us.

I glanced uneasily behind me and met Angie's solemn eyes, shaking my head slightly at her silent question. No, he wasn't there. Relief flooded her face as I turned away from her. I grabbed the handle of the door and shot my sister a firm stare. Alice's eyes were fixed on where Jasper stood in the middle of the lot. Her face no longer showed happiness and yearning upon seeing him. No, her eyes showed nothing but hatred and vengeance.

"Alice, stay in the Jeep," I commanded in a firm tone.

She pressed her tiny lips together tightly, her eyes never leaving the guy in the middle of the lot. Alice nodded her head minutely, but it only made me doubtful. My sister never was good with following directions.

I got out of the Jeep with Angie clambering over the seat quickly behind me. Walking up to Emmett, I grabbed Kate's hand pulling her away from my burly cousin's arms. She gasped out my name, throwing her arms around me. Her normally perfect makeup was slightly smeared, leaving dark shadows beneath her eyes. Kate's body trembled in my arms as I gave her a tight hug.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked, my voice muffled against her neck.

"Me, Jess, and Lauren were hanging out on the platform when they pulled up," she muttered, pulling away from me and wiping her nose with the back of her hand. "They demanded that I call Emmett and Benjamin. When they didn't answer I called you."

"What do they want?" I whispered, my eyes darting to where the two boys still stood.

"I don't know. They wouldn't tell me. They just said they needed to talk," she shrugged, shuddering slightly. "The one guy was pretty rough, grabbing my arm, but Jasper stopped him."

"What the hell do you want, Royce?" Emmett suddenly bellowed, walking away from us and creeping toward the two guys in the middle of the lot. "Why did you call us down here?"

"Why did I call y'all down here?" the guy with the slicked back hair named Royce laughed. "You mean you don't know? I called you down here because of the broken boundary rules."

My heart stopped. Kate's eyes met mine as soon as the words left Royce's mouth. The blood drained from my face and Kate's as well. Cold terror consumed me as I realized we'd both been caught.

"What are you talking about?" Emmett asked, stopping in his tracks just a few feet from where the two guys stood. "We didn't break the boundary rules. And what's it to you even if we did? You're not a Cullen."

"No, I'm not a Cullen," Royce confirmed. "But I do work for them. You honestly don't know about the boundary rules being broken? And I didn't say the _Swan_ family broke the boundary rules. Think back, about two years ago."

My heart stopped as the words left the guy's lips. The group of Mayhaw kids that formed at our sides turned to stare at me. I was overcome with simultaneous relief and embarrassment. I was relieved because our rendezvous in Birchwood remained a secret. Yet I was embarrassed because I'd thought for the past two years that no one knew about my mother and James Cullen. I'd guessed wrong. I swore quietly below my breath as Royce's pale blue eyes focused on me.

"Is that her? Is that Bella Swan? Daughter of Renee Swan?" he asked with a sinister smile on his face.

"What do you want with her?" Emmett demanded, his face turning alarmingly red in color as he clenched his fists at his sides. "Bella's not her mother's keeper. She had nothing to do with what her mother did. And it was the Cullens who broke the boundary rule, not the Swan family."

"It doesn't matter who broke what rule. The fact remains that the rules were broken. And I'm not here to discuss James, Renee, or Bella. I'm here on Edward Cullen's behalf," he guy drawled, grinning at me mischievously as his eyes darted from my horrified face to Emmett's suddenly confused one.

"Edward Cullen? What the hell does he want?" Emmett asked.

"He wants to give y'all a heads up," Royce smirked as his eyes met Jasper's and the two bastards grinned at one another. "He's coming to town soon and he wants to remind y'all that all the rules are off the table now. The rules have been off the table for a while. You can't do shit about him being in Mayhaw."

"He's coming to Mayhaw? Is that some sort of threat? What are you, a Cullen gopher?" Benjamin finally spoke up, glaring at the two guys.

"I'd rather be a Cullen gopher than be associated with a Swan any day," he laughed, grinning at me. "You people, you're nobody. Aro's still pedaling dime-bag weed when the Cullens have moved on to far greater things."

Royce's simple statement spoke volumes. It told me all I needed to know about the Cullens. It told me that they were much more than marijuana traffickers, possibly manufacturing meth or some other equally destructive drug. Overcome with disgust, I shook my head and glared at the boys.

"What does he want in Mayhaw? What business does he have here?" Emmett demanded, causing Royce and Jasper to laugh.

"I'm not sure, but the rumor is he has a hankering to meet the daughter of the man who murdered his father," Royce sneered, with his beady eyes fixated on mine.

My heart lurched in my chest and sweat beaded on my forehead.

"Is he planning on...hurting me?" I finally spoke, taking a deep breath as what felt like thousands of eyes stared back at me.

"Hurting you? No, I have a feeling that his intentions for you are completely dishonorable, but they have nothing to do with _hurting_ you," he smirked, glancing at Jasper.

The two of them shared a good laugh at my expense. Royce's innuendo hung in the air and my mouth fell open in shock as I heard those around me gasping at his statement.

"You son of a bitch! You tell Edward Cullen to stay away from Bella!" Emmett screamed, launching himself at Royce and slamming his beefy fist into the side of his face.

All hell broke loose as the guys from both sides of the lot ran forward cursing and screaming. Their bodies slammed into one another and they were lost in a sea of swinging arms and legs as they began punching and kicking one another. I lurched forward, but was quickly held back by Kate, Angie, and even Alice, who, of course, exited the Jeep against my wishes. I screamed for the fight to stop, cursing and struggling to get away from the girls who continued to hold me back.

For some reason, through the fighting, screaming, cursing, and the dust billowing around from the massive scuffle in front of us, my eyes were drawn to an old black muscle car. The body style told me that it was a late sixties or early seventies model Shelby Mustang. It was sleek and its surface shined beneath the moonlight. It was beautiful, and whoever owned it took good care of it, possibly rebuilding the car himself. In my heart I knew that car belonged to Edward Cullen.

Jerking away from the girls I stalked across the lot, passing through the angry, fighting boys who paid me little attention. I felt his eyes penetrating me through the dark tinted glass as I closed in on the car. Within about four feet of said car I began to flip the hell out.

"Get out of there and face me you jerk!" I screamed with my arms flailing about. "You wanna see me? Well, here I am! Get out and face me like a man!"

I didn't expect him to actually get out of the car, so when he did I jumped back in shock. The door swung open and there he stood in all his sexy, angry glory. All six feet of him smirked down at me as he slammed the car door behind him. The courage I built up inside quickly dwindled away as he was then only inches from me. My mouth went dry and I tried to pry my eyes away from the fitted gray shirt he wore, which emphasized the lean muscles in his torso and abs.

I stepped back, suddenly a coward in his close proximity. He stepped forward. Glancing over one shoulder, my eyes darted around me hoping someone noticed the two of us standing there, but no one paid us any attention. The girls couldn't be seen through the mass of fighting, angry boys. No, it was just me, Edward, and the moon.

"We need to talk Moon Goddess...or should I call you 'Bella'?" he asked, the smirk disappearing as his mossy, green eyes turned black, making my blood turn cold.

ABORT MISSION! ABORT MISSION!

Gasping in fear, I turned to run, but he grabbed my arm and pulled me against his hard chest. He dragged me backwards towards the old wooden building with his hand clasped over my mouth. I tried to bite his hand and I even licked it. He didn't flinch. I kicked up dust and tried to hit him but he was too strong and I felt like a rag doll in his arms. Taking a deep breath I made my body go limp, but it didn't faze him one bit as he pulled me behind the old wooden building, effectively hiding us from the outside world.

As soon as the two of us were hidden from prying eyes he released me, gently pushing me against the rugged wooden boards of the aged train station. I stared up at him in fear, terrified of what he planned for me. But he no longer looked angry. He looked...pensive. Edward rubbed his forehead as he looked into my eyes searching for something.

"Why? Why did you lie to me about who you were?" he finally asked in a quiet voice. I heard the rumble of thunder in the distance and I shuddered as chills ran over my body.

"Because...because I was somewhere where I wasn't allowed. Because I realized who you were. Because I didn't want anyone hurt," I whispered in a trembling voice.

I pressed my back firmly against the building as he stalked closer to me. He placed his hands flat on either side of the wall beside me, enclosing me, and staring into my eyes.

"You didn't know it was me? You didn't know the entire time we lay on that pier together?" he asked, his face growing closer to mine, so close that I could smell his spicy cologne. "Is this some sort of trick you Swan's have come up with?"

"No! I swear! I didn't know you were a Cullen until I saw your tattoo! And...and I didn't know which Cullen you were until you asked me to stop crying. It's the same thing you told me after my father's funeral. If I'd known it was you..." I said, my voice trailing off at the end as I pressed the back of my head further away from him, the wooden boards painful against the back of my skull.

"If you knew it was me, what? You wouldn't have let me kiss you on that pier? You would have ignored me? Ran?" he asked, his face closing in on mine. His breath smelled like honey. I was so screwed.

"Yes!" I whispered hoarsely, turning my head away from his. "I'm sorry! I swear I won't go near Cullen territory again!"

He chuckled darkly, dropping one hand from the building next to me, clutching my chin between his long fingers, and forcibly turning my face towards his. My eyes darted up involuntarily as he gave me a lopsided grin.

"Well, that's completely unacceptable," he whispered, the grin fading as he squeezed my chin.

His grip wasn't hard or painful, just firm. I nearly passed out from fear, anger, lust as he released my chin, leaned down, and slid his hand behind my neck. Pulling my face to his, he captured my mouth with his own and pressed his chiseled body against mine. I tried to fight him off at first. But he was resilient. Ignoring my resistance, he continued to kiss me. Eventually I stopped fighting him. He already owned my heart. And at that moment he owned my body. I fell for his wicked spell and relished in the feelings that he evoked in me.

I felt everything. I felt his warm tongue in my mouth demanding attention from mine, which it got. I felt his hand on the nape of my neck, gently massaging my skin with his fingers. I felt the hard planes of his body as he quietly moaned and pressed himself against me, pushing me against the hard, rough lumber of the old building. And I felt another kind of hardness as well.

It was wrong. It was so wrong, but I couldn't stop myself. I couldn't stop the way I felt for this boy who I'd only met twice before, but felt as though I'd known my entire life. I couldn't stop my fingers from reaching up and running through his wild bronze hair. I couldn't stop myself from letting him grasp my ass and lifting my body. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he hoisted me up against the building. I couldn't stop the 'oh shits' and 'oh, my Gods' that escaped my lips as he ground himself into me, panting, cursing and breathing my name into my neck.

My hips automatically met his with each hard thrust. It was wrong, but it was so right. I felt as though I was made for specifically for him. His warm tongue slid across the tender flesh near my ear and he sucked it into his mouth, his hot breath sending goosebumps across my skin.

"I feel like I'm betraying my family and my entire existence," he whispered into my ear, giving it a small nip as he voiced my own internal thoughts. "But I can't help myself. I can't stop thinking about you, Bella."

"You're not angry with me?" I gasped as he sucked on my earlobe. "How did you know that I was Bella, instead of Marie?"

"I thought it was you from the first moment I saw you at that party," he admitted as I stared at him in shock. "You were sitting on that bar with that long, dark hair and those big brown eyes staring back at me and I prayed that it was you. When I saw your tattoo and found out where you worked, it proved it to me."

"I can't believe you still remember me," I muttered, staring up into his mossy green eyes in wonder as he pulled his face away from my ear. "We only met for a few minutes."

"I've thought about you every day since the first time we met," his whispered, stroking my jaw with his thumb. "You don't know how long I've been waiting for you."

"I've thought about you too," I quietly admitted, groaning in disappointment as he gently released me.

My legs slipped from around his waist and my feet hit the ground. He continued to press his body against mine, staring deeply into my eyes.

"You have?" he asked, reaching up and tucking a stray lock of my hair behind my ear.

His fingers drifted from behind my ear and across my cheek. His hungry stare darted from my eyes to my mouth as he brushed his thumb across my bottom lip.

"Yes," I told him. My voice sounded soft to my own ears. "I think about you all the time. I don't understand how I have these feelings for you when I don't even know you."

"You_ do_ know me, Bella," he whispered, pressing his forehead against mine and staring deeply in my eyes. He placed his hand over my heart, which continued to thump frantically in my chest. "And I know you."

Very slowly I placed my hand over his heart as well, shocked by how fast it beat. He was just as nervous, scared, and excited as I was. We stayed like that for an undeterminable amount of time, not hearing the screaming and yelling of our friends and family as they continued to fight just yards away. All we heard were each other's ragged breaths as we gazed into each others eyes while hidden behind that old wooden building. It took a booming clap of thunder overhead to snap me back to reality.

"What you did tonight was dangerous. It's dangerous for the both of us," I whispered as a light mist begin to swirl around us. It looked like a white fog swirling around in the moonlight. "You had your friends force us to show up here by holding my cousin hostage! How could you do that? Are you trying to get us killed?"

I tried to push him away from me but he held firm, refusing to let me go. A flash of lightning shot across the sky followed by another clap of thunder.

"I did what I had to do to bring you to me," he told me in a low, threatening tone as his eyes flashed dangerously. My skin began to crawl and the hair stood up on the back of my neck. "She was never in any danger. They wouldn't have hurt her. I wouldn't have let them. They know better."

"You're not only risking my life, but yours as well," I said, tears forming in my eyes. "If something happens to you..."

"Nothing will happen to me," he muttered, removing my hands from where they continued to push at his chest.

He clutched my wrists in his large hands and pulled my arms up over his shoulders.

"Besides," he whispered, pressing his mouth against my forehead. "I'd die a million times just to see you once more. I can't live without you another day, Bella."

His words caused my heart to twist in my chest. The mist turned into a light drizzle. Small raindrops fell from his messy hair, running down his pretty face and down his neck, soaking his shirt. The sound of my sister screaming caused me to jump in alarm.

"That's my sister!" I gasped, pushing at him once more. He hesitantly stepped back, glancing over one shoulder at the corner of the building. "She might be hurt! I need to check on her!"

"When can I see you again?" he asked in a demanding tone.

"I don't know," I muttered, pushing my way around him as he reached out and grabbed my arm. "My uncle told me that he'd kill me if he ever found out I was messing around with a Cullen. What if someone saw you pull me behind this building?"

"Who threatened you? Aro?" he asked, ignoring my last comment as he pulled me back to him. "I swear on all that's holy I'll kill him myself if he so much as touches you!"

"Just leave me alone, Edward! I want to see you again, but I can't! We can't be together!" I cried, my tears finally pouring over, mixing with the sweat, the heat and the rain. "It's not safe!"

"I'll figure something out," he promised, begrudgingly releasing me.

The light rain caused his clothes to cling to his hard body. I stumbled backwards, his last words ringing in my ears.

"Don't think this is the last time you'll see me, Bella Swan. I'll fight for you. Do you hear me?"

I didn't respond. My eyes took him in one last time, just in case I never saw him again. He stood there wet, angry, yet not defeated. There was a gleam in his eyes that told me he meant the words he said. He'd never give up on me. And even though it was dangerous and forbidden, in my heart I hoped that his words were true.

I darted around the building, never looking back. My shoes slipped across the muddy parking lot and I skidded a few times, but somehow managed to not bust my ass.

The boys continued to scuffle, covered in mud and blood, but it was my tiny sister who drew my attention. She was in a face-off with Jasper, the shaggy blonde who she claimed was her soul mate. Kate and Angie stood by her side and I joined the girls, breathless from frantically running through the thick, sticky red-clay.

"Stay back you chicken fucker!" Alice screamed, hitting Jasper in his chest with her tiny fist as he stood there with a bemused grin.

"Chicken fucker?" he asked, his face alight with amusement. "Have you been watching old South Park re-runs?"

"Cracker!" she barked, her face red with anger.

Uh, oh. This only meant one thing; Alice had completely lost it and was about to show her crazy to the world.

"Cracker?" he asked, giving her an odd look. "Uh, you're as white as I am."

"Cracker Jack! Cracker Barrel!" she screamed, hitting him in the chest once more.

"Cracker Barrel? The country restaurant?" he asked, his eyebrows knotted in confusion.

"That's it, you cracker eating redneck! Honkey mother fucker!" she hollered, darting to where Emmett's truck sat .

Alice hopped in the bed of the truck and bent down with nothing but her tiny butt in the air. She began digging around in the back of his truck as we all stared at her.

"You better run," Angie laughed, crossing her thin arms across her chest while smirking at Jasper. "Alice has officially boarded the crazy train."

Alice popped up from the bed of the truck screaming like a manic. She sprung from the bed of the truck and face-planted in the mud as we all cringed. Then she hopped up like a tiny ninja, covered in red, wet, Mississippi clay. Emmett's baseball bat was clutched firmly in her hands.

"You ruined my new shirt!" she yelled, staring down at her mud-stained blouse. "Now you're gonna pay, you freaking Cullen wannabe!"

Alice kicked off her flats and shot forward. Jasper began screaming 'oh shit!', narrowly missing her swings each time. He darted around gracefully as he laughed.

"You're insanely weird, but adorable," he laughed, dodging a swing to the ribs.

"Arghhhhhh!" my sister hollered, her face beet red as she finally landed a blow to his ribs.

He recoiled but kept running. She chased him into the crowd of fighting boys and disappeared in the thick of it all as Angie and I shot each other an uneasy glance.

That's when we heard the sirens and saw the flashing red and blue lights. Everyone in the parking lot froze, the brawl completely forgotten. Then we all scrambled to our vehicles. I slid behind the wheel of my Jeep, looking around frantically for my sister until I finally saw her. Emmett held her in his arms dragging her kicking and screaming across the muddy parking lot as she threatened Jasper's life. She was still swinging the baseball bat. She accidentally slammed the metal Louisville slugger against Emmett's right temple and he screamed, releasing her to rub his sore head. She shot forward again, but it was Benjamin that caught her that time, dragging her back to Emmett's truck.

Jasper gave her one last grin before running across the parking lot to a certain person's black muscle car. I met Edward's eyes one last time as Jasper disappeared inside the passenger side of the car. Edward stood there leaning against the car, gazing at me through the whipping rain.

"Let's go," I muttered to Angie, somehow breaking away from his haunting stare.

I was happy to leave before Edward. I didn't like the thought of being the one to watch him leave.

Cars flooded across the parking lot and onto the long, dirt road that was thick and sticky with red mud. A cop car sat on the side of the road and was forced into the ditch by the laughing, rowdy teenagers who swerved close to his car. Angie laughed and blew the cop a kiss as I drove past him. When I turned to look at him I met the dark eyes of none other than Jacob Black. Jacob was the son of the chief of police, Billy Black, who was good friends with my family.

Jacob was just a few years older than I was and I hadn't seen him in years. I didn't even know he'd become a cop. I swallowed hard, hoping he didn't find out what happened at the old train station that night and report back to Aro. Everyone in town knew Aro had the police department in the palm of his hand.

What I didn't know was that Jacob Black would, in fact, report back to Uncle Aro, and Uncle Aro would show me exactly why I should stay away from Edward Cullen.

* * *

Chapter Playlist Song: 'Bring on the Rain' by Jo Dee Messinna. Check it out ;)

TwiMommyof3 has dubbed DSDW Edward 'Stormward' which I FLOVE and will forever call him ;) Thanks girl!

Thanks SunflowerFran3759 for pimping me on FB. I ain't too proud to beg ;)

Thanks AliCat0623 for being a kick-ass Beta (although I left 'barbeque' spelled that way instead of 'barbecue'. We don't spell it that way down in the South, ya dig?). Also thanks for taking me on an imaginary vacation Tuesday night to our hypothetical cabin in the woods near our metaphorical lake. I enjoyed sitting on the purple couch eating catfish. You shoulda had some. But I guess I'm a 'live off the land' kind of gal while you're a 'catch and release' Midwesterner girl. But, hey, somehow we mesh well together.

What did y'all think of Bella and Edward's reunion? Would you throw caution to the wind and follow your heart, or would you take the safe approach in life and leave Edward alone? Did I paint an accurate enough picture for you? Could you see the blood, sweat, and tears? Did you smell the rain? Review and leave me your thoughts.

Peace and Love,

Jhood


	8. Chapter 8: Moon Pies and White Lies

_Previously, in Chapter Seven..._

_Angie laughed and blew the cop a kiss as I drove past him. When I turned to look at him I met the dark eyes of none other than Jacob Black. Jacob was the son of the chief of police, Billy Black, who was good friends with my family._

_Jacob was just a few years older than I was and I hadn't seen him in years. I didn't even know he'd become a cop. I swallowed hard, hoping he didn't find out what happened at the old train station that night and report back to Aro. Everyone in town knew Aro had the police department in the palm of his hand._

_What I didn't know was that Jacob Black would, in fact, report back to Uncle Aro, and Uncle Aro would show me exactly why I should stay away from Edward Cullen._

* * *

_We have to distrust each other. It is our only defense against betrayal._

_~Tennessee Williams~_

**Chapter Eight: Moon Pies and White Lies**

"Kate! Come out front, please!" I heard my sister yell from the register.

Kate muttered below her breath and abandoned the wedding cake the two of us were busily decorating. Kate was working on placing shells of icing around the bottom tier and I was carefully swirling fleur-de-leurs on the top tier. When we finished we would box each tier and deliver them the next day to the church where the wedding and reception were taking place. Then we'd assemble the cake on site.

It'd been a few days since the incident at the train station and I hadn't heard a peep from Edward. Maybe he'd taken my weakened pleas to heart. Maybe he'd given up on me. I'd spent every night restlessly tangled in sweaty sheets as I could think of nothing apart from his face, his words, the steady strum of his heart beating beneath my hand, and the feeling of his body pressed so dishonorably against mine. The only thing I had going for me was the fact no one witnessed Edward's presence at the train station that night, and they certainly didn't see him pull me behind the building. The only person in my family who knew he was there was me, and I wasn't telling anyone the truth about that night.

My family couldn't talk about anything else_ but _what happened that night. Emmett and Benjamin were ready to kick ass first and take names later.

Kate was angry and scared by what happened at the old train station. She was also worried about Garrett. She'd admitted that much, but she didn't have to confess her concerns to me. I could tell how nervous she was by the anxious expression she permanently held on her pretty face. She wondered why he hadn't been at the train station the night of the fight. Did he find out who she really was? Was he upset about it? I felt worthless listening to her fret because I didn't have the answers she wanted to hear.

Alice was the only one who didn't speak very much about that ill-fated night. She had been peculiarly quiet and withdrawn since meeting Jasper once again. She did speak about him, just once. Alice told me and Kate that he wasn't technically a Cullen.

Apparently, Carlisle and Esme Cullen, Edward's aunt and uncle whom he lived with, took Jasper and his twin sister Rose in to live with them when their parents passed away in a fatal car accident. Their parents and the Cullens were close friends, and Carlisle felt it was the least he could do by taking in the twins after the death of their parents.

After hearing that story my perception of Carlisle Cullen changed, even if it was just a tiny bit. He was still a Cullen after all, and possibly my father's killer. Aro had never elaborated on who he thought murdered my father, but always hinted it was Carlisle.

How Alice found out about the Hales was beyond me. She _was_ a chronic Facebook stalker. Then again, I sometimes wondered if she actually was a psychic like she claimed.

"Oh dear Lord in heaven!" I heard Kate exclaim in exasperation.

I dropped my bag of icing on the counter and wandered to where Kate and Alice stood near the register. Laying beside the register on the counter lay a bouquet of fragrant, handpicked wildflowers tied together humorously with a red garbage bag tie. The bouquet was bursting with yellows, purples, and pinks.

Alice and Kate were holding a tiny scrap of paper in their hands. Their heads were pressed together as they leaned over reading the note. Without making a sound I reached out and snatched the note from their hands.

"Roses are red, violets are blue, you lied about who you are, but I'd still bone you. Love, Garrett," I read aloud, laughing and snorting at the end. "Where did you get these?"

"Some kid brought them in. He said some guy paid him to deliver them to me. You see what I have to deal with?" Kate huffed, grabbing the note from between my fingers. "An idiot! A deranged lunatic!"

Kate pretended to be irritated by Garrett's idiocy but I saw the smile that she failed to hide. Very carefully, she folded the note into quarters and slid it in the back pocket of her frayed blue-jean shorts. I found an old mason jar in the kitchen on top of a refrigerator and filled it with water. Kate begrudgingly placed the flowers in the jar and sat the bouquet in the room near the wedding cake we were working on. The smell of wildflowers and buttercream icing filled the room and were a surprisingly wonderful duet of scents.

"Kate, who's Garrett?" Alice asked curiously as she pulled a stool beside us.

I said nothing as I decorated the cake, but I couldn't hold back the frequent bursts of laughter that escaped my lips. That note was just too damn funny. I wondered if Garrett Cullen was really as goofy as Kate thought he was or if it was all just part of his silly charm.

"He's a Cullen, that's who," Kate snapped as she slowly used a bag of icing to place a row of shells along the bottom border of her cake.

"Kate!" I admonished as I shot Alice a nervous look.

"Oh, come on, Bella! We might as well tell her! Everything's gone to hell in a hand basket anyway!" Kate muttered with a heavy sigh.

"You can tell me! I swear I'll keep it a secret!" Alice begged.

Alice crossed her heart with her tiny forefinger. Then she literally clasped her hands together in a gesture of plea while giving Kate those big, sad eyes. She reminded me of that damn cat on Shrek. Who could deny Puss in Boots?

I was suddenly thankful that our grandmother took the rest of the day off to cook for our monthly family gathering. If she heard the things Kate and I told Alice she'd probably have fainted. Alice listened in rapt attention as Kate and I took turns telling her about the night we met Edward and Garrett at the party. Alice's deep brown eyes grew huge and her skin paled. When we finished our tale, she took a deep breath and slumped dramatically on the steel counter by her side.

"It's like Romeo and Juliet," she mused aloud after a lengthy pause.

"Yeah and we all know how that love story ended," Kate muttered ominously as we all glanced at one another and shuddered.

"It's nothing like Romeo and Juliet," I argued as I finished the tier I was working on. "They were careless with their love. Juliet didn't fight to keep Romeo away from her. I'm doing what I have to do to keep Edward away from me because I don't want him to end up like Romeo. And I most certainly won't end up like Juliet."

"It's exactly like Romeo and Juliet," Kate argued as she shot me a grin. "They met once and it was love at first sight."

"Aw, you love him, don't you Bella?" Alice asked in a snarky tone as she studied my shameful face. "You do! You are so in love with Edward Cullen! You wanna have little Edward and Bella babies with him! You love him so much you'll name your kids 'Edwin,' 'Edda,' and don't forget little 'Edmond'!"

She cackled as I gave her a hard punch in the arm. My face felt red from her teasing. There was an evil grin on her face at the sight of my reddening face. I quickly turned the tables on her.

"What about Jasper? Jazz? Jazzy? Little Jazz-o?" I cracked while watching her bemused face fall. "Don't think I didn't hear you hollering out his name last night in your sleep."

"That was a low-blow," Alice whispered in an airy voice.

I almost felt sorry for her, even though she brought it on herself. She looked downright pathetic.

"Alice, you have it made," Kate groaned. "At least Jasper's not an official Cullen. You can date him all you want!"

"He may as well be a Cullen," she mumbled in an evil, low voice.

Alice's skin was paler than usual, causing her ebony hair to stand out shockingly against her milky white flesh. Her eyes sparkled, but also darkened to an almost inky blackness that matched her raven, wavy hair. She had the appearance of a hellish little pixie.

Alice gave us both a menacing glare before she returned to her place of banishment at the cash register. Kate and I exchanged nervous glances before returning to our work.

We stayed later than normal that day because of the extra work was needed on the wedding cake. Nana wasn't there to lend us a helping hand so it was twilight before we completed the cake. The sky was darkening outside and the town slowly became quiet as everyone in our small, rural town gathered together in their homes for suppertime. Little else was said among the three of us as we finished up for the day, that is, until we officially closed shop.

Standing outside the cake shop leaning against Kate's huge truck stood none other than Garrett Cullen. My feet froze on the cracked sidewalk. Alice stood beside me and glanced between me and Garrett as I stared at him in open-mouthed shock. Her eyes narrowed in on Garrett, who was a stranger to her. He leaned against Kate's truck with a familiarity he shouldn't possess. He had a lazy, amused smile on his face as his eyes drifted behind me.

Gazing over my shoulder, I watched as Kate locked the cake shop door behind her. She held a cake box with a caramel cake I'd baked per Nana's instructions for our family gathering that night. She turned around and her eyes met Garrett's. Kate stiffened.

Alice and I watched as the cake box slipped from her hands in what seemed like slow motion. The lid popped open mid-air and the cake smashed to the concrete with the box falling by the wayside. Alice and I cringed the moment the cake made impact with the ground below. Caramel and yellow cake covered the ground and I almost whimpered mournfully over the time I spent baking the homemade confection.

"I hope that cake wasn't intended for someone important," Garrett drawled with a lazy smirk.

"You son of a bitch! What are you doing here? This is Main Street for Christ's sake! Are you trying to get yourself killed? Are you crazy?" Kate hissed as she finally snapped out of her daze.

"I'm crazy, alright," he joked. "Crazy for you. Did you get my flowers? I picked them myself."

"Yes, I got your stinking flowers! You couldn't afford to buy me some _real _flowers?" she snarled with her hands on her hips.

"Why, Kate! I'm hurt!" he cried in a wounded voice as he placed a hand over his heart mockingly. "It's the thought that counts! That gift was from the heart!"

"Get in your car, truck, whatever, and get the hell out of here before someone sees you!" Kate demanded as she glanced up and down the quiet street.

"Darlin', I'm not ashamed of our love. Why should you be?" he asked, pushing himself off Kate's truck.

"Because I don't wanna end up dumped in the bottom of some lake wrapped up in a tarp!" she screamed.

"Baby, I won't let anything happen to you!" he argued.

"Right! Where were you a few nights ago when your friends freaking kidnapped me!" Kate hollered as she placed her hands on her hips and glared at Garrett's casual grin.

"I was left out of the loop on that one," Garrett drawled with a smirk. "If I'd been there I wouldn't have let you go."

"You know, you're one fry short of a Happy Meal!" she hollered as she swung at him.

They continued to fuss, and Alice and I stood there gaping at the two of them with our mouths hanging open like two idiots. Garrett smoothly stepped over the ruined cake on the sidewalk. He attempted to pull Kate into his arms, but she resisted. Garrett Cullen was a persistent little fucker, much like Edward. He held Kate's arms tightly at her sides and placed a desperate kiss on the side of her mouth as she tried to turn her face from side to side.

"Call the police, Bella!" Kate muttered feebly as Garrett was finally able to pull her weakening body into his arms and fully kiss her. "He's trying to rape me on a public sidewalk!"

"Should I really call the police?" I asked.

I nervously pulled my cell from my pocket and ran my finger absently against the smooth surface of the screen. Kate didn't respond to my question, unless you count moaning and grunting as a response.

Alice held a horrified grimace on her face, and I gagged as Kate and Garrett began desperately making out in front of us. I felt as though I was watching bad amateur porn. Kate was pulling at Garrett's auburn locks and he was groaning and palming her breasts.

Kate became aggressive and bit his lip, causing a yelp of pain and surprise to burst from his mouth. Her oral assault fueled something deep within Garrett. He let out a low curse and pulled her face closer to his looking as though he were trying to inhale it.

An image of an old horror movie popped into my mind. Garrett reminded me of the zombie man who ate the poor girl's face off in the movie. The two stumbled awkwardly on the sidewalk and Garrett's boot slid in the caramel, sending the two of them crashing into one giant horny mess of arms and limbs on the sidewalk.

"Garrett's a love-sick fool, huh?" I heard a familiar, smooth voice say.

I gasped not only at the sound of Edward's voice, but also because he snatched my cell from my nimble fingers. I turned around and there he stood with a cocky grin on his face. His deep green eyes sparkled mischievously as he stared at me. There were dark shadows beneath them as though he'd also had several sleepless nights. His stance was casual as though standing in the middle of Mayhaw next to his family's archenemy was natural. There was a white baseball cap with a frayed bill pulled down low over his eyes that helped to partially disguise his face.

"What are you doing?" I gasped and as his long, elegant fingers flew over the screen of my phone.

Edward didn't respond. In a moment I heard his own phone ring in the pocket of his worn jeans. I could hardly pull my eyes away from those freaking jeans. They were low-slung and snug on his hips, emphasizing his muscled body. They looked as though they'd been washed a million times and were probably as soft as butter. My fingers twitched with the desire to reach out and touch them. I balled my hand in a fist, angry with my internal desires.

"You know, I lay in bed all night wondering what ringtone to use for when you call me," he mused.

He held my phone up in front of him and took a snapshot of his grinning face. He handed the phone back to me and I snatched it from his hand with a huff.

"I think I'll use 'Don't You Want To Stay.' What do you think?" he asked as he pulled the cap down further over his eyes, hiding from a passing car.

I opened my mouth to argue but didn't get a word out before he removed his own cell and snapped a photo of my stunned, open-mouthed face. Edward laughed as he glanced down at the screen and shook his head. My face began to burn when I heard the voice of Kelly Clarkson and Jason Aldean singing, as Edward programmed my ringtone.

"What do I think? I think you're as insane as these idiots standing behind us," I growled as I jerked my thumb in the direction of the two horny teenagers still making out behind me.

"Insane? Possibly," he said with a grin as he slid his phone back into his pocket. "But I prefer the term 'persistent.' The Cullens have always been persistent when we want something."

"And the Swans can be pretty stubborn when we _don't _want something," I muttered, gulping as he grinned and stepped forward.

"You keep pushing and I'll keep pulling," he whispered with darkened eyes.

"Back off!" Alice yelped as she swiftly jumped between the two of us. "Leave my sister alone! You and your filthy cousin get out of here before I call the cops!"

"This is a public street," Edward told my sister as he stared down at her fuming face and gave a careless shrug. "What can they arrest me for?"

"From what I've heard the last time Billy Black caught a Cullen in Mayhaw the man couldn't walk for a year," Alice threatened in as menacing of a voice that her childlike tone could muster.

Edward's eyes grew cold as he glared at my sister and muttered, "Yes, I know. That man was my father."

Everything grew quiet as Edward and Alice stood there with matching glares on their faces. I was acutely aware that the panting and moaning behind me abruptly ceased. Kate and Garrett stopped making out to watch the tension filled face-off. I swallowed the lump in my throat and felt humiliated that Alice brought up Edward's deceased father in such a manner. Everyone knew that Billy Black, the long time chief of police, had once nearly beaten Edward Senior to death, although it was never proven.

"Alice, I'm ashamed of you," I told my sister quietly as she turned and gave me a look of pure astonishment. "How would you feel if someone said something like that to you about Daddy?"

Alice shook her head in disgust. She removed herself from between Edward and I. She continued to shake her head as she waited on a couple of slow moving cars to creep down Main Street. Then Alice stomped to where my Jeep sat next to a very familiar looking black car. She said one last thing before hopping in my Jeep.

"Don't forget how the story ends, Bella," she called to me in a sad voice.

Alice's words and the expression on her face made my body tremble as a thrill of panic shot through me. Her face looked broken and sad. She frowned as she opened the door to the Jeep and pulled her petite frame into the vehicle. I watched as she slammed the door and removed her huge, black sunshades from where they were tucked in the sun visor.

I was unsure if her words were a simple statement or one of her terrifyingly accurate premonitions. I'd remain too terrified to ask.

"I'm calling you tonight," Edward said as he ignored my sister's strange warning.

"I won't answer," I muttered as I crossed the street towards my vehicle and left Kate and Garrett behind.

"Then I'll text," he insisted as he grabbed my elbow and spun me around.

I glanced up into his troubled eyes. He rubbed his forehead as he watched me, and I vaguely wondered if it was one of his nervous habits. As his eyes glanced frantically over my face a sense of realization and defeat consumed me. I wanted Edward Cullen. I wanted him _so_ bad. And for some reason he wanted me as well. He was as open and honest about his thoughts as the first time we met. I'd never met someone so unashamed to voice their innermost feelings. It was tricky, dangerous, difficult, and would probably end up with one, if not both, of us being killed, but I realized I couldn't deny my heart any longer. He'd never stop pursuing me. He'd never give up on me. I felt my willpower swiftly crumble.

"If you text me, I might respond," I whispered as I ignored my sister's shocked and angry glare.

I glanced up at him feeling strangely shy all of a sudden. Edward gave me a dazzling grin as his face lit up. He squeezed my arm once before letting go and let out a loud, impressive whistle. I watched as Garrett stopped arguing with Kate to glance Edward's way. Garrett nodded and tried to give Kate one last kiss. She pointed down at the smashed cake smeared over her bare legs below her shorts and then slapped him firmly across the face. He let out a yelp before trotting across the street looking like a wounded dog.

"You better watch out, cousin," Garrett joked as he rubbed his sore, red cheek. "These Swan girls can get a little rough."

"Yeah? Well, I can too," Edward laughed as he slid his eyes toward mine and smirked arrogantly.

His words caused excitement and fear to bud in my chest. Edward gave me one last grin before he and Garrett slid in the car and eased slowly down the street as they headed in the direction of Birchwood.

Slowly shaking my head, I tried to pull myself out of my Edward-induced stupor. I turned to the Jeep and saw a box of Double Decker, strawberry-flavored Moon Pies sitting on the driver's seat. I picked the box up and glanced at it in confusion. A small smile spread across my face as I slowly read the message written in black ink across the box. The scroll was loopy, yet elegant, and almost feminine.

"For a moon goddess who tastes like strawberries and smells like cake. Edward," I read aloud.

"I don't get it," Alice shrugged. "But I want one."

"Back off!" I hissed as I clutched the box strawberry-flavored marshmallow sandwiches to my chest lovingly. "These are all mine!"

"Whatever," she muttered waving her hand carelessly. "They're probably laced with cyanide anyway."

I rolled my eyes and put the Jeep in gear. Alice's large sunglasses couldn't completely hide the cynical scowl that crossed her delicate pixie-like features. She refused to speak to me the entire drive to Nana's house. I didn't mind the silence.

My mind was too wrapped up in Edward and in fear. I was terrified of anyone else finding out about us. Edward and Garrett were reckless with their actions. I wondered briefly if Edward and Garrett had made their family aware of their affections for Kate and I. Carlisle Cullen's words at the funeral home played in my mind, that a Swan girl would be the death of him. Had Carlisle changed his mind?

Nana's white, two-story farmhouse loomed in the distance as Alice and I pulled into the long driveway. My tires splashed through the deep potholes full of muddy water. I thought briefly of asking one of my uncles to grate the driveway using the tractor. The sun was slowly dipping beyond the trees behind the house, coating the sky in a brilliant, fiery-orange glow.

Nana's driveway was lined with the cars and trucks of our various family members. Some of the vehicles were parked in the front yard due to lack of parking space or maybe because they were too lazy to park further down the long driveway. I grumbled and complained knowing that the ground was still soft from the recent storm. Nana's yard would surely be filled with ruts and upturned grass by the end of the night.

Alice and her upturned nose disappeared inside the big house and I wandered around to the back yard. I sat at one of the three picnic tables scattered in the backyard and watched as a rowdy game of horseshoes took place. My uncles and male cousins were laughing and hollering at one another as they took turns tossing the horseshoes at the metal spike in the ground. Kate made her way outside and joined them. A large pile of cash lay stacked on the picnic table where I sat as they began placing bets.

The sight of Aro laughing and happily tossing horseshoes without a care in the world set me on edge. I was infuriated by the complicated mess he'd unknowingly made of my life. I blamed half of my troubles on my erratic, uncaring mother and the rest on Aro. How could he live with himself knowing that he murdered a man in cold blood?

What would happen when I let myself get closer to Edward? Would I eventually reveal what Aro told me so long ago...that it wasn't my father who murdered Edward Senior, but Aro himself? I couldn't imagine being in a long-term relationship with someone and keeping a secret like that for very long, even if telling him would ultimately destroy the man who I'd come to know as a second father.

I scrolled through my phone until I found Edward's smiling, tired face grinning back at me. I couldn't hold back the smile that crept across my face. For the first time in my life I felt as though I truly belonged. Someone wanted me. Edward wanted me. No one else wanted me, but Edward did. I belonged to him. And he belonged to me.

"What's got your face lit up like the fourth of July?" a familiar voice asked.

I quickly shoved the phone in my pocket and took a deep breath. Aro stood before me collecting his winnings. His chocolate eyes twinkled at the sheepish look on my face. He looked so much like my father that it twisted my heart.

"Got you a beau, Bella?" Aro asked curiously as he folded the money into his thick, leather wallet with a deer head branded across the front.

"Nah," I said with a shrug as I tried to slow down my rapidly speeding heart.

I glanced around and swatted at the mosquitoes that were viciously attacking my arms. The rest of our family had gone inside to fill their plates full of Nana's good, Southern food. The backyard was silent aside from the sound of Aro shoving his billfold in his back pocket and the crickets singing.

An eerie feeling washed over me as I glanced up and met Aro's eyes. They were no longer carefree and untroubled. They resembled the eyes of a snake; cold, dark, and unwavering.

"Billy Black stopped by the job site today," Aro said as he casually lit a cigarette and took a deep drag. "He said a bunch of Birchwood kids were down at the old train station a few nights ago causing a ruckus."

I said nothing and had to swallow the gasp that threatened to escape my lips as Aro pulled his favorite pistol from the back waistband of his jeans and sat it beside me.

"Yup. He said Jacob was called down there. You remember Jake, don't you? He's turned into a fine young man. Working at the county Sheriff's department. Jake told Billy that everyone ran like a bunch of scalded dogs before he could find out what happened," Aro continued.

I nodded numbly but remained silent. There was no reason for me to speak. I had a feeling that Aro knew exactly what went down at the old train station, and maybe he knew Edward was there looking for me as well.

"You know, Isabella," he continued as he picked up the gun and slid his thumb over the safety. "You hear just about everything living in a small town. It's hard to figure out what's real and what's not sometimes."

"You see old Toby over there?" Aro asked, nodding across the yard where the old, red barn stood.

Glancing across the yard I saw Aro's old bluetick coonhound lounging beneath a tall, ancient oak tree. The lower branches sagged down close to the earth and swayed in the warm, gentle breeze. Toby's ears perked up at the sound of his name leaving Aro's dry, chapped lips, but his head never left the dirt.

Toby wandered onto Aro's property many years ago as a young dog. He'd been skittish and preferred to sleep in the old saw mill on the edge of Aro's property. When someone would come near him he'd dart off. Aro slowly built his trust by feeding him every day at the saw mill. He'd bring the bowl of food closer and closer to his house every day until Toby finally felt comfortable enough to approach the house. Toby had obviously been beaten by his previous owners because when someone raised their arm for any reason the poor dog would immediately hit the ground.

"There's no telling how many hundreds or thousands of hours I spent training old Toby to tree coons," Aro mused. "He's been like a best friend to me. Hell, he's the closet thing I've ever had to a kid besides you and Alice. I've carried him hunting and fishing throughout the years. But he's old now. He sleeps a lot and won't tree a coon for shit.

"A few days ago I noticed he started snapping at the neighbor kids when they got off the bus. He's turned into a traitor, Isabella. Do you understand? Do you know what happens to traitors?"

"Please don't," I whispered feebly as I already knew poor Toby's fate.

Aro gave me a menacing grin as he turned, whistled for his trusty sidekick, and cocked the gun. The dog raised his head with his ears still perked. Toby struggled to his feet, limping across the yard. Arthritis had set in over the years and his bones and joints frequently bothered him. He only made it a few steps when Aro pointed the gun and squeezed the triggered.

I screamed as the gun went off in Aro's hands and the poor dog hit the ground. Tears welled up in my eyes as Toby's sorrowful howls broke through the stifling heat. Pressing my hand over my mouth I tried to mute out my choking sobs that threatened to escape as the poor dog didn't immediately die. Toby's legs twitched and he moaned pitifully as his paws dug into the wet ground. His eyes were fixated on his master as he painfully struggled to make his way to his best friend. Even at the brink of death Toby desired nothing but the love of the man who would eventually kill him.

"He'll suffer for a while before he dies," Aro said as he tucked the gun back in the waistband of his pants. "Maybe he'll spend what little time he has left remembering the fun the two of us had together over the years. Maybe he'll wonder what he did to deserve his death. Maybe he'll think about snapping at those kids. Maybe he won't. It doesn't matter either way. He'll eventually die, Isabella. Because that's what happens to traitors. They die."

I sat on the picnic table in stunned silence and trembled with tears streaming down my face. The sound of the gunshot lured people out of the white farmhouse. From the corner of my eye I saw my family slowly file out the back door and onto the wraparound porch. Wiping the tears from my face, I slid off the picnic table. Aro's eyes watched my every movement. My family stood on the porch gazing at us in confusion. Their eyes drifted between where Aro and I stood and over to where poor Toby lay dead near the barn. My sister and Kate descended the faded white, wooden steps of the porch and jogged over to where Aro and I stood.

"What happened?" Alice asked worriedly as she gazed up at our uncle who continued to stare at me. "What happened to Toby?"

"He was used to prove a point," I muttered bitterly as I wiped the lingering wetness from my face.

"You'd never betray your family, would you, Mary Alice?" Aro asked in a kind voice as he reached out to ruffle my sister's long, black hair.

"No sir," Alice whispered as her wide eyes drifted in the direction of the dead animal.

"That's a good girl," Aro cooed as though she were a small child. "Well, don't just stand like a knot on a log, Isabella. Let's get some grub before the boys eat it all up. Emmett! Bury that mutt before he starts to stink!"

"Yes, sir," Emmett called out in a bitter, disturbed voice.

Emmett covered the expression quickly enough as he shuffled away. I followed my uncle onto the porch. I cast one last look over my shoulder as Emmett dragged Toby to the woods lining our grandmother's property.

I filled my plate with potato salad, cole slaw, corn on the cob, and fried chicken, but I'd long since lost my appetite. I mostly just shoved my food absently around my plate and avoided the stares that Kate, Alice, Emmett, and Benjamin shot my way. There was no way in hell the boys would keep what happened at the train station a secret from our uncles, and I wondered if they had already told them everything that took place. My internal questions would soon be answered.

As soon as the dishes were clean and the men were gathered around the television watching some alligator hunting show, I discreetly gestured for my cousins to join me outside. Darkness had long since set in. It was a cloudy night and the moon was invisible in the sky. Not a star twinkled. The air felt like death.

"Did someone tell him that Edward was looking for me?" I demanded quietly as soon as Emmett shut the door silently behind him.

Emmett, Benjamin, Kate, and Alice all shook their heads slowly and solemnly. I gazed at each one of them, searching for any hint of deceit in their eyes but found none. My shoulders slumped in relief and I tugged nervously on a long, twisted strand of hair.

"Please, can we keep this to ourselves?" I begged anxiously as the image of my uncle shooting Toby flashed through my mind.

"Why should we?" Benjamin asked as he narrowed his dark eyes on me suspiciously. "Why should we protect the Cullens? Royce King said Edward Cullen has 'dishonorable intentions' with you. I'll be damned if I let some Cullen try to make the moves on my cousin!"

"Look, Royce King was drunk that night," I said as my eyes darted from Benjamin to Emmett. "You both said so yourselves. Plus, you also told me that Royce is nothing but a trouble maker. What if he was in town just to stir up trouble? Maybe he's got some vendetta against the Cullens. Who knows? Why should we start a war with the Cullens over something some arrogant drunk said that probably wasn't the truth to begin with?"

"I don't know, Bells," Emmett whispered as he glanced uneasily at the door behind us. "Uncle Aro is a fucking psychopath. If he finds out that Edward Cullen has some sick...obsession with you and we didn't tell him, he'll kill us like he killed that damned old dog!"

Our eyes drifted unconsciously to the edge of the property where Emmett buried Toby. Then we met each other's gazes with matching troubled looks on our faces.

"Bella's right," Kate spoke up as she thrust her chin in the air bravely. "Like Nana says, 'Least said is the easiest mended.' I'll tell Aro that Royce King was at the train station running his mouth. I'll leave out the part about the Cullens. Hell, we sort of owe them don't we? They've had the past two years to come over here and try to infringe on our family's stupid drug business, but they haven't!"

"Fine," Emmett huffed as he pointed his finger in Kate's defiant face. "You spin whatever tale you want to spin but let me make one thing clear. I don't owe the Cullens a_ damn_ thing and if I find out y'all are messing around with them I swear you'll regret it for the rest of your lives. Do y'all hear me?"

Emmett gazed at us three girls as he said those final words. We all nodded solemnly. Kate quickly hatched out a story to feed Aro in case he brought up the night of the fight once more. Emmett and Benjamin griped and complained about lying to our family.

I carefully watched their faces and wondered which one of my cousins would betray me if it came down to it. Benjamin was my obvious first choice. He and I weren't as close as Emmett and I were. Would Emmett betray me? I looked in his dark brown eyes as he gazed at Kate who explained our made up story in detail. I'd hate to think he'd be the one to betray me, but the truth was I trusted no one. No one but myself.

When the details of the lie were hashed out the boys slowly shuffled inside Nana's house. Kate and Alice stood on the rickety porch burning holes in my head with their stern stares.

"What?" I huffed, frowning at them.

"This is too much, Bella," Kate told me in a firm voice. "Just do the best you can to avoid Edward Cullen. Okay? And I'll do the same with Garrett."

"Fine," I muttered bitterly.

Alice and Kate exchanged glances and the two of them entered the house. As I grabbed the door behind them I felt the familiar buzz of my cell vibrating in my pocket. Glancing around the kitchen and finding no one, I quickly shut the door and removed the phone from my pocket. The message that flashed across the screen warmed my heart.

_Edward- I want to see you._

_Bella- When? _

_Edward- Tonight._

I felt dizzy. When I was a small child I'd stare up at the blue sky and spin in circles over and over. I'd fall in the deep, green grass with my head happily swimming, feeling giddy, alive, and free. Although I hadn't felt that much freedom since I was a small girl, I felt it at that moment. It was exactly how Edward's text made me feel.

I was tired of being responsible Bella, living her life to suit everyone else's needs...everyone's needs but my own. It was time to live my own life. It was time to make a decision that quite possibly would end in my demise. For the first time in my life I had a choice about what would make me happy.

So I chose.

I chose the luminescent white moon and the twinkling stars suspended in a dark sky. I chose white, broken lilies and mossy green eyes. I chose strawberry Moon Pies and little white lies.

I chose Edward.

* * *

**WARNING:** The next chapter will contain citrus fruit of the yellow variety. I hope a bit of smut doesn't make you uncomfortable (other than the obviously wonderful way).

Speaking of lemons, 'Dirty South Drug Wars' is up for fic of the week at **The Lemonade Stand**! Thanks soooo much to evilnat for the rec! Please go cast your vote! I'd love to gain some new readers! **Tehlemonadestand .net**

Also, if you were a fan of my previous fic, 'Breakaway Bella', voting is still open for top ten fics of the month at **twifanfictionrecs .com**. I'd FLOVE it if you'd vote!

Thanks to AliCat0623 for being a kick-ass Beta. She's also become a very good friend, even though I torture her on a weekly basis by sending pics of the things we eat down here ;)

**FYI**: For those of you who don't know, a Moon Pie is made of graham cracker cookies with marshmallow filling, dipped in a flavored coating of chocolate, strawberry, banana, or vanilla (banana is my personal favorite). This pastry is considered an 'American cuisine of the South'. The Double-decker Moon Pie has three cookies and an extra layer of marshmallow and also come in lemon and orange flavor ;)

So...what about Aro, huh? What a bastard! Do you think he knows Edward was at the train station, or is he just hearing rumors floating around town? I mean, Edward's car was there, Jasper was there, and Royce King announced in front of everyone that Edward was looking for her. Does he know?


	9. Chapter 9: He Makes Me Fly

_Previously, in Chapter Eight..._

_I was tired of being responsible Bella, living her life to suit everyone else's needs...everyone's needs but my own. It was time to live my own life. It was time to make a decision that quite possibly would end in my demise. For the first time in my life I had a choice about what would make me happy._

_So I chose._

_I chose the luminescent white moon and the twinkling stars suspended in a dark sky. I chose white, broken lilies and mossy green eyes. I chose strawberry Moon Pies and little white lies._

_I chose Edward._

* * *

_"You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope..._

_I have loved none but you."_

_Jane Austen_

**Chapter Nine: He Makes Me Fly**

My mind reeled as I tried to come up with some clever way to meet up with Edward. He obviously couldn't come over to my house, and vice versa. At least, that's what I thought at first.

Alice continued to be peeved at me, and loudly announced after dinner that she was spending the night with Makenna. I covertly hid the smile that threatened to burst across my face. She stared at me suspiciously across from Nana's dining room table as I dropped my eyes but she said nothing. As the minutes, and then hours, slowly slipped away, I found myself anxious to leave my grandmother's house.

Not wanting to draw suspicion to myself, I waited until Emmett, Kate, their parents, Alice, and Makenna left the driveway. I stretched and yawned, feigning exhaustion as my Uncle Aro watched me from the recliner in Nana's living room. I told my grandmother goodbye, took a plate of leftovers wrapped in tin foil from her hands, and waved tiredly to Aro and my remaining relatives who were relaxing in front of the television. Aro's brown eyes lingered on my back as I casually left the room.

As soon as I left my grandmother's driveway, I shot Edward a text explaining that my sister was spending the night away from home and it was safe to come over to my house. It was too late for any surprise guests and I knew my mother wouldn't make an appearance. I texted Edward instructing him on where to hide his car once he arrived at my house. He texted me a brief 'okay' and I shot him my address. Then I proceeded to do something I'd never done before.

I turned into a typical teenage girl and freaked the hell out.

A guy was coming to my house to see me. And not just any guy. Edward Cullen was coming to my house. Edward Cullen and I would be alone in my house. Me and the most beautiful boy, no, _man_ I'd ever laid eyes on would be alone. Together. In my house. And our brief history together told me that before the end of the night he'd have his hands on my body.

I drove home like a bat out of Hades.

In a mad rush, I darted upstairs and took the quickest shower known to humanity. My head avoided the spray of the shower for a couple of reasons. The first reason was because I didn't have time to bother with washing and blow drying my hair. The second reason was because Edward preferred the smell of buttercream my hair seemed to exude.

I shaved my legs and somehow managed to not nick myself at all. My razor hovered near my lady parts and I began to panic. The pink razor trembled in my hand.

"Screw it," I mumbled as I uncharacteristically threw caution to the wind once more.

I normally kept the grass trimmed, so to speak, but I'd never had a reason to go bare. I slathered myself in shaving cream and carefully went to town on my cooch, praying that Edward would touch me down there. Then I prayed he wouldn't. Then I prayed he would, and I quietly asked God to forgive me for my impure thoughts.

I'd just pulled on a thin, black shirt, sans bra, and a pair of shorts when I heard the low rumble of a car engine creeping down the long driveway.

I waited impatiently on the steps leading to the deck as Edward's black car eased down the drive. He cut his headlights, veered off the pavement, and pulled into my father's large wood shed that sat about halfway down the driveway.

My father loved woodwork, but the shed had long since been emptied and abandoned after his death. My mother sold all his saws and tools after he died. The only thing left in the shed was an old, red riding lawn mower and other outdoor lawn equipment. The shed was still large enough to fit two cars easily. But there was only one car it needed to fit, and that was an old, restored Shelby Mustang.

I watched anxiously as Edward emerged from the shed and pulled the wooden doors shut behind him, concealing his car. He loped up the drive looking as cool as a damn cucumber while I sat on the wooden steps in a bundle of nerves.

He'd showered as well. His hair was slick, slightly wet and a shining bronze mess under the moonlight. He wore a navy wifebeater that exposed his well-defined arms. The Cullen tattoo on his right, inner forearm stood out boldly in the whitewash of the moonlight, instantly reminding me of what a traitor I was to my family.

I took a deep breath and swallowed dryly as I forced thoughts of disloyalty to my kin from my mind. That night wasn't about my family. That night was about me, Edward, and the moon.

Edward's deep eyes were fixated on mine and his pink lips curved into a smooth smile as he approached me. He climbed up the wooden steps of the deck and dropped down beside me. His skin smelled of what I can only describe as man. Wrapping one arm around my waist, he pulled me into his side where I so naturally fit.

"You're scared," he said in a soft voice as he brushed his lips against my temple. His nose found its way into my hair and I heard him inhale heavily. I felt him smile against my cheek. "I see it in your eyes."

"Yes," I answered quietly as my hands began to tremble.

"Tell me what scares you, Bella," he said.

Edward's warm breath washed over my face, smelling of minty toothpaste. He gently cupped my chin and turned my face to his. He silently studied the expression on my face.

"I'm scared of everything," I admitted as I took a deep breath and peered into his deep green eyes. "I'm scared of Aro and what he'll do when he finds out about us. I'm scared of your intensity. I'm scared of the way I feel when I'm around you. I'm scared of how weak I've become by realizing I can't stay away from you any longer. But most of all I'm too scared to tell you no. Because one day you'll get tired of the rejection and you'll stop fighting for me."

"Don't be afraid," he whispered. "I won't let anyone hurt you. I won't leave you. And I'm glad you stopped pushing me away. Although, I've got to say, I've certainly enjoyed the chase."

He chuckled and I smiled a bit. That smile wavered at the memory of Aro's dog laying dead in my grandmother's back yard.

"I think Aro may already know you were looking for me," I told him.

His arm was still wrapped around my waist and I felt his fingers creep beneath the hem of my shirt near my rib cage. I took in a sharp, surprised breath. Edward massaged my skin with his long fingers but said nothing as he watched my face solemnly and listened to me speak. I told him what all Aro said and about Billy Black visiting him.

"He shot his dog right in front of me," I whispered as the memory of the dead animal flashed through my mind once more. "He said that's what happens to traitors. I know he'll kill us, Edward. If he finds us together he'll kill us."

"He can't find out then," he told me quietly as his fingers drifted further north, sending shivers down my spine. "Because now that I finally have you, I'm not letting you go."

"How? We see each other in secret?" I asked him with a shaky breath as he cupped my breast in his hand. His fingers stilled.

"You're not wearing a bra," he muttered with dark eyes while covertly avoiding my question.

"No," I whispered watching as a slow, evil smirk graced his handsome face.

"Good," he muttered.

Then he pinched my nipple between his fingers. Hard.

I yelped in shock, pleasure, and pain as he laughed. Edward removed his hand from under my shirt, stood, and stretched. His crotch was right by my face and I couldn't help but stare wide-eyed at the bulge in his jeans.

It was huge.

"Where's your manners, Ms. Swan?" he asked with a grin. "You can't give me the ten-cent tour?"

"Uhhh...yeah," I muttered dumbly as I forced my eyes away from the bulge.

Edward smirked and politely offered his hand. I took it from him with a shaky smile as I was suddenly intimidated by him. He didn't seem to sense my hesitation as he pulled me to my feet. His hand found its way to the loop in my jean shorts as he followed me inside.

"So this is the living room, dining area, and kitchen," I said, waving my hands around unceremoniously at the open area. "There's a bathroom and laundry room down here too, but I'm sure you don't want to see that."

Edward let go of my belt loop and wandered around the living room staring at the photographs over the fireplace. There were many of Alice and I in our younger years in various stages of childhood awkwardness.

Alice was one of those kids who loved to steal the scissors and chop her hair off in secret. In one of the photographs Alice had a mullet after whacking all the hair off the top of her head.

Edward picked up a photograph from the mantle and stared down at it. I wandered over to where he stood and peeked around him. It was a photo of my father and I when I was around six-years old.

In the photograph I stood next to my father with a huge grin on my face. My front teeth were missing and I wore pigtails and dirty overalls. My father stood by my side holding a large catfish he'd caught in our lake. His chocolate eyes twinkled and there was a handsome smile on his tanned face.

"That was a good day," I mused as Edward continued to look at the photograph. "Daddy and I loved fishing together. We'd take the boat out on the lake and stay all day long. Then Mama would fuss because I'd come home with a sunburn on my nose and ears."

"That's why you have the freckles on your nose?" he asked as he swallowed and carefully placed the photo back on the mantle.

He turned and gave me a small smile. I opened my mouth to respond but he interrupted me.

"Six," he said while grabbing my waist and pulling me against him.

"Six what?" I asked through the haze that he created in my mind. Being pressed so closely this body was entirely intoxicating.

"Freckles," he whispered, skirting his nose against my cheek and flooding my senses with his manly scent. "You have six freckles on your nose. They're not as dark now as they were when you were twelve. But they're still there."

Edward pressed his lips against mine just briefly before pulling away and wandering to the stairs. He began to climb them and I watched in stunned silence as he disappeared upstairs, never looking back.

Six freckles. I didn't even know how many freckles I had on my nose. But Edward did.

A strange emotion crept over me, and I wrapped my arms around my torso trying to hold on to the feeling. I was greedy, selfish, and never wanted to let it go. I stumbled to the stairs and went in search of him. Because he had me. He was the lion.

And I was his lamb.

I found him in my bedroom. I wasn't sure how he knew it was mine and not Alice's, but somehow he knew. My walls were painted celestial blue, and plastic stars were stuck to the ceiling. Cheap dollar-store makeup was scattered across my dresser, and my dirty clothes from earlier that day hung from the side of the laundry hamper. I was thankful I'd been mindful enough to make my bed.

He found my bookshelf and I cringed as he removed a familiar looking sketchbook.

"Um, that's private," I said, reaching out to snatch the book from him.

Edward dodged my fingers and avoided my protests with a cocky grin on his face. He probably thought it was all in good fun, but I was mortified by the thought of him opening that book and seeing my sketches of him.

"Come on! Let me take a peek," he joked as I finally grabbed the edge of the book.

He laughed as we played tug of war with the book. My face was red from anger and embarrassment. I almost had the book in my possession when he gave it a final tug just a little too firmly. The book flew from both of our fingers and I watched in utter horror as page after page of sketches fluttered around the room and landed at his feet.

Edward was silent and still as he gazed down at the portrait of a young boy staring solemnly back at him.

My knees hit the floor as I scrambled to pick up the scattered pages. Tears of embarrassment trailed down my cheeks. Edward stooped down to where I kneeled and gently pulled the faded pages from my trembling fingers. He placed them on the bed beside us and watched me as I wiped the tears from my cheeks.

Edward grasped my shoulders and pulled me up with him from the floor. I hung my head and avoided his lingering gaze.

"You drew those pictures...of me?" he asked softly as his hands trailed up and down my arms. I nodded slowly.

"When?" he asked, pulling me closer and tipping my head back with his fingers. "When did you draw those?"

"Some of them I drew after we met at the funeral home," I quietly admitted as his eyes bored into mine. "Some were drawn after we met on the pier."

"Why do you look so ashamed?" he asked, carefully studying me.

"Because I'm embarrassed," I admitted. "I swear I'm not crazy."

He chuckled and released me. Reaching in his back pocket he removed an old, brown leather wallet and flipped it open. After digging around the wallet for a moment he removed a faded, black and white piece of paper. Edward unfold the paper and handed it to me. I stared down at it in confusion until awareness crept over me.

"You were fourteen," he explained as I studied the newspaper clipping. "You won a science award. It was in the county newspaper."

"It was a project on the solar system," I muttered glancing up at the lazy smile on his face. "You've had this in your wallet...for four years?"

"Yeah," he admitted. "I'll never forget that day. I was in the kitchen pouring myself a bowl of cereal for breakfast, and I happened to see your face smiling back at me from Carlisle's newspaper. It was sitting on the table in the very spot I ate breakfast at every morning."

"So you cut it out and put it in your wallet?" I asked in an unconvinced voice.

"Eventually," he said with a smirk as he took the clipping from my fingers and placed it back into his wallet.

"What do you mean by 'eventually?'" I asked in confusion as he slipped the wallet back inside his pocket.

"I was fourteen, Bella," he laughed. "What do you think I did first?"

I frowned as I thought about his words. Then realization hit me. I covered my mouth and stared at him in shock.

"Edward!" I gasped.

Edward laughed and removed his phone from his pocket. He scrolled through and brought up the photo he'd taken in front of the bakery. In the photograph my expression was one of astonishment. My mouth hung partially open.

"This one is better though," he mused with a grin. "I like the way your mouth looks in this photo. Plus I don't feel like such a pervert when I look at this and stroke my..."

He didn't finish his sentence. I smacked him in his hard stomach and he doubled over in pain and laughter. My cheeks warmed, but I couldn't hide the pleased smile that broke across my face.

Edward straightened up and pulled me into his arms as he continued to chuckle. Images of Edward pleasuring himself flashed through my mind, and I felt my nipples harden as my body pressed against his.

"The stars are out tonight," he breathed into my hair. "Will you take me outside and show me the constellations?"

"Yes," I said, happy to avoid further conversation about the sketches, photographs, and masturbation.

Edward took my hand and led me down the stairway. He pushed the sliding glass doors open and the two of us wandered onto the deck. It was a clear night and the stars twinkled overhead. The moon was dim in the sky and crescent-shaped. It was a perfect night to stargaze.

Edward lowered his long, lanky body on a lounge chair and pulled me down with him. I rested between his legs with my back against his chest. The air was thick, hot, humid and filled with the sounds of crickets singing and frogs loudly croaking.

"Where is your sister tonight?" Edward asked as he pulled my long hair from behind my back and over my left shoulder. I lay my head beside his neck.

"She's staying the night with our cousin Makenna."

"And your mother?" he asked.

"Lives in Birmingham with a friend," was my bitter response as I searched the night sky with a frown.

"Who takes care of y'all?" he asked, causing a dry laugh to escape my lips.

"Who takes care of us? Um, we take care of ourselves," I chuckled. "Like we always have. Well, I guess you could say I take care of us. My sister has some...problems."

"Yeah, Jasper told me she was a little odd," he chuckled, surprising me with his admission. Did he and Jasper discuss my sister?

"She's unstable," I said rolling my eyes. "And whiny. She wears me out with all the shit she does."

"So why do you do it? Why is it your responsibility to take care of her?"

"Because she's my sister," I responded not fully understanding his question. "Why wouldn't I take care of her? I love her."

"Don't you want someone to take care of you for once, Bella?" he asked. I felt his lips nibbling at my neck and I gasped at the feeling. "Will you let me take care of you?"

I didn't know how to respond because, once again, I didn't understand the question. How could he take care of me?

"Do you ever feel free? Or are you always hedged down?" he asked, slipping both hands beneath my shirt.

Edward's fingers skimmed across my skin sending a jolt of pleasure coursing through my body. I felt his fingers travel upwards and cover my breasts. He gently squeezed them and lazily flicked his thumbs against my puckered nipples. My back arched against my will, and I hissed at the sensation.

"Hedged down," I admitted in a strained voice as his warm tongue trailed from the crook of my neck to my ear.

"Do you want to be free, Bella?" he whispered in my ear. "Do you want to fly? Can I make you fly?"

"Yes," I moaned as he sucked on my earlobe. "I want to fly."

Edward left one hand on my breast as the other trailed down my abdomen and dipped into my shorts. I was already wet from his touch and his words. His fingers found my clit and he paused.

"Bare? Fuck," he muttered, rubbing small, light circles against my clit. "Tell me about the stars, Bella. Concentrate."

"The stars?" I gasped as he rubbed a bit harder.

Edward's hard bulge was pressed against my ass and he began slowly grinding it against me. The pressure of his fingers against my clit increased once more. Sparks of pure pleasure shot to my core. My body became a live wire as he continued to thrust, rub, and make demands.

"Bella, you said you'd tell me about the stars," he reminded me in a heavy breath. "If you show me the stars in the sky, I promise I'll show you some stars like you've never seen before. Okay? Now, concentrate. Tell me about the stars, Bella."

"Uh, that star is called 'Arcturis,'" I muttered, pointing one trembling finger into the night sky as he rocked against me. "It's the fourth brightest star in the heavens and it's twenty-times bigger than the sun."

"Twenty-times bigger?" he whispered, sliding his fingers from my clit to my entrance. "Do you like big things, Bella?"

"Fuck!" I hissed as he slowly pushed two long fingers deep inside me.

Edward's palm pressed against my clit as he curled his fingers inside and hit that mystical spot I'd only read about. I cried out at the sensation and he chuckled in my ear.

"I want to see your face when I make you cum," he said as his wet fingers left my body.

I whimpered at his dirty words and at the loss of his touch, feeling more empty than I'd ever felt in my entire existence.

"Don't worry baby," he chuckled. "I'm not finished with you yet. I promised you stars didn't I?"

"Yes," I moaned as he grabbed my hips and thrust himself against me one last time.

"I want you to turn around so I can see your face," he told me quietly.

I stood up on shaky legs, turning to face him. He lay on the lounge chair staring at me with that sideways grin and those dark, hooded eyes.

Reaching up, he unbuttoned my shorts and tugged them down roughly. I was suddenly very self-conscious standing in front of him with my shorts pooled at my feet, my hard nipples pressing against the fabric of my shirt, and the front of my purple silk bikini panties dangerously wet.

"Damn, you look good," he muttered as his eyes lingered on my bottom half. "But you've got too many clothes on. Drop your drawers, darlin', and climb on my lap."

Edward's Southern accent became heavier during our playtime, and when the word 'darlin' left his lips I felt myself grow impossibly wetter. My cooch throbbed and my nipples tingled in the most miserably delicious way.

I wanted relief from the torture he inflicted so I did as he said. Hooking my thumbs on the strings of my panties I slowly pulled them down, kicking them and my shorts to the side. Edward's smirk disappeared as he stared at my exposed body hungrily.

"Lap," he instructed in a rough voice.

He pointed at his lap and I complied. I lowered myself carefully onto his body, acutely aware of how spread out I was for him. There was never a time that I felt so exposed. Edward grabbed both sides of my ass, squeezed, and pulled me forward until I felt his hardness pressed against me.

"How about those stars, Bella? Are you ready for them?" he asked, shoving my fitted shirt up over my breasts.

"Yes, Edward," I gasped as his hands found my breasts.

Edward toyed with my nipples, rolling them softly between his fingers at times, harder at others. He leaned forward and pulled one into his mouth, sucking tenderly. I cried out as he sucked, nibbled, and flicked his tongue on one hard nipple before his tongue and teeth found the other.

Edward placed his hands on my waist and began dragging my hips back and forth against him until I found my own rhythm. Once he was satisfied with the way my body moved against his jean-clad hard cock, he found my clit once more.

"Keep moving, darlin'," he instructed when my body stilled in shock at the contact of his fingers against my wet flesh.

I began my rhythm once more as I rolled my hips. He pulled a nipple between his teeth and suckled as he plunged his fingers deep inside me. I panted, moaned, and practically cried as I began to slowly ride his fingers, desperate for him to hit my special spot once more.

Edward grabbed my tattoo-covered hip with his free hand and pulled me harder against his fingers, silently coaxing me to ride him faster. Edward curled his fingers inside me as he worked my clit with his thumb. It felt as though a sleeping dragon was slowly waking up in my belly. White hot fire flashed though the pit of my stomach and straight between my legs.

I grabbed at his unruly hair and slapped my wet body roughly against his fingers. He gave my nipple one last flick with his tongue. Edward leaned back against the lounge chair watching me as I bucked my hips wildly against him and threw my head back.

"Eyes on me, Bella," he commanded as the live wire slowly sparked and uncurled in the pit of my stomach.

My eyes fluttered open and I struggled to keep them trained on him. Gone was the smirking, teasing face. In its place was an expression of such a mixture of emotions. Lust, anger, tenderness, and aggression. I saw it all when I stared into his eyes as he steadily pleasured me.

"When I see your face I see everything," he breathed. "I see white lilies and a full moon. I hear thunder and taste strawberries. I see joy and pain. I smell June rain and birthday cake. And I see the stars in your eyes. Are you ready for the stars, Bella?"

"Yes!" I gasped as the throbbing between my legs became excruciating.

"Good," he smirked.

Edward plunged his fingers deeper and harder, sucking a nipple in his mouth. I hissed as he frantically stroked my clit. A strange yearning sound escaped my lips as I looked down at him, meeting his gaze. He nipped at my nipple with his teeth, released it with a pop, and blew on it, all while staring up at me. The sight of him doing those things to my body while his penetrating green eyes gazed up at me through thick, dark lashes, drove me over the edge.

My body began to hum and tears of sheer pleasure welled in my eyes. I tried to keep my eyes open and on him, but it was impossible. With his unruly stands grasped tightly in my hands, I cried out and felt myself clench around his fingers. White stars exploded in the inky darkness behind my tightly closed eyes as I threw my head back and rode out my orgasm. My voice carried out over the still waters of the lake. The sound echoed through the dense forest surrounding my childhood home.

Edward slowly stroked me as I came down from whatever blissful galaxy he'd sent me to. I panted in exhilaration as my body slowly wound down. When his touch became too much against my newly sensitive nub, he removed his fingers from inside me.

Edward pulled my face to his and kissed me deeply, sucking my bottom lip into his mouth. His fingers tangled in my hair and I found myself fumbling for the zipper of his jeans.

"What are you doing?" he asked breathlessly with his wet mouth near mine.

"Returning the favor," I said with a racing heart as I unbuttoned his jeans and yanked at the zipper.

"If you pull my cock out of my pants, I swear to God, Bella, I won't be able to stop myself from fucking you," he warned in a stern, serious voice. "And I don't think you're ready for that yet. Am I right?"

His words caused me to pause and fight through the misty haze in my mind to search for rational thought.

"I'm...I'm not sure," I stuttered honestly as my fingers stilled. "I've never...I mean, you'd be the first..."

"And hopefully the last," he muttered as he grabbed my wrists and pulled my arms around his neck. "I want nothing more than to be with you in every way, but if you have to question yourself about it then you're not ready."

I nodded, slightly relieved but also somewhat disappointed. I fell against him and hid my face in the bend of his neck. His hands crept from my waist to my ass and I became hyper aware of how naked I was. In the midst of my hormonal bliss it hadn't mattered much. Now that playtime was over I felt shy as his hands ran over my bare cheeks.

"I should put my clothes back on," I muttered into his neck.

"You should never wear clothes again," he laughed while squeezing my ass. "I prefer you naked when it's just the two of us."

I snickered and pulled away from him. A satisfied smirk played on the corners of his mouth as he watched me fumble with my top, yanking it down to cover my breasts. After sliding my underwear and shorts back on I stood beside the lounge chair where he rested, unsure of what to do next. He placed his hands behind his head, stretched his long legs out, and held a look of peaceful relaxation on his face while holding my gaze.

"You're not getting all shy on me again are you?" he asked with a crooked grin. "I thought we were past that, especially after what just happened."

I struggled to find something intelligent to say, but found nothing. I felt vulnerable and it was an uncomfortable emotion. I'd learned over the years to never depend on, or have any expectations from, anyone. Edward caused me to want _him_ because he wanted _me_. So much could go wrong because of our situation that it terrified me. What if I became dependent on the feelings he inflicted within me, only to have him torn away from me?

"Stop thinking so hard, Bella," he whispered as he sat up and perched on the side of the lounge. Reaching out, he grabbed my hands and pulled me between his legs. "I'm not going anywhere, okay?"

I nodded but said nothing. He stood and ran his hands through my hair, cradling my head delicately. Tipping my head back, I stared up into his deep green eyes. His face was masked in shadows but even the darkness didn't disguise the unfamiliar look he held. He swallowed and leaned down, capturing my mouth with his soft lips. He kissed me deeply, sliding his tongue in my mouth. Very slowly, I opened my eyes while he kissed me, wondering what his face looked like during the action.

Edwards long, dark lashes rested below his gently closed eyes, and his thick eyebrows were slightly drawn in concentration. I'd never forget the way he looked while he kissed me. I shut my eyes as well and moaned softly as my heart swelled in my chest. My fingers found their way in his soft, unruly hair, and I tangled them in his sloppy strands.

"We should stop before I can't take it anymore," he chuckled dryly against my lips. "I've wanted this for so long that it scares me. I'm afraid I won't be able to stop myself if I keep kissing you."

He peppered gentle kisses from the corner of my mouth, up my jawline, and ending at my forehead. Edward guided my head to rest in the bend of his neck, and we stood on the deck content with simply holding one another. He quietly hummed a tune and he slowly moved my body against his in time with the sound. The song was familiar to me; it was the ringtone he'd programmed in his phone for when I called. I breathed him in, wanting to remember the pure happiness I felt in that moment for the rest of my life. Edward eventually stopped humming and pulled away from me a bit. He gazed solemnly down into my eyes as I stared up at him with my arms wrapped around his neck.

"Bella, you should know," he began in a whisper as his Adam's apple bobbed. "That I'm in lo..."

"Don't say it!" I pleaded as I reached up and pressed my fingers against his slightly parted lips. "Don't say it. Because once you say the words it becomes real, and I don't think I can live with myself if you say those words and our family destroys it."

"It's real whether I say it or not," he said in a dark voice as his body stiffened in my arms. "It's always been real, Bella. You and I were made for each other. Believe it or not, it's true."

I teared up like the hormonal, teenage girl I'd become, and his body softened marginally beneath my arms as he sighed. Edward wiped my tears away with his thumbs and stepped back, shooting me a somewhat broken look.

"How about we lay back down and look at the stars?" he suggested as he tugged on my hands.

"Okay," I agreed in a quiet voice.

Edward pulled me back onto the lounge between his legs. I rested my face against his chest as the two of us peered up into the night sky. The stars twinkled overhead, glittering like diamonds in sooty darkness. He didn't speak; nor did I. We didn't have to.

Everything Edward needed me to know he conveyed in the way he touched me. His nose nestled in my wavy hair as he breathed my scent in, silently telling me that he enjoyed the way my hair smelled. Occasionally he'd nip at my skin, communicating that he loved the way I tasted. His hands wandered beneath my shirt over my belly, and he lightly stroked my skin, making me aware that he cherished the feeling of my flesh beneath his fingers.

Edward was right, of course. He didn't have to say the words aloud to make them true. Edward Cullen loved me. And as I glanced up and met his unguarded green eyes, I realized that I was in love with him as well. I always had been, from the first moment my innocent young eyes met his at my father's funeral so many years ago. I would always remain in love with Edward Cullen, even if that love was reckless, forbidden, and deadly. Our love was tainted with the pride and hatred of bitter men, and their children alike. But none of that mattered anymore. It was too late to back out. Edward Cullen captured my heart and it would remain his forever.

We lay on that lounge chair for hours holding and touching one another. Edward left in the night just before daybreak, after I'd begrudgingly explained I didn't want to push our luck with him staying too long in Mayhaw. I saw the conflict in the endless depth of his green eyes as he tenderly kissed me one last time, cupping my face softly in his large hands. With one last sad glance, Edward pulled out of the long, cracked driveway in his black car. He disappeared in the pink and purple tinged early morning light, causing me to break the one promise I'd made to myself; to never watch him leave.

Once he was gone, I felt a ridiculous sense of rejection wash over me. It was ridiculous because I was the one who sent him away to begin with, unwillingly on his part. There was a part of me that yearned for him to argue with me over my hesitant dismissal. But as confident, honest, and blunt as I'd learned Edward was in the brief amount of time I'd known him, he wasn't forceful to the point of being a domineering jerk.

No, the domination was there, don't get me wrong, but it was neither harmful or violent. It was the opposite, rather. The way he looked at me, searching the soft curves of my face and into my brown eyes as he held me tightly in his arms, and murmured how he'd never let me go caused a fire to erupt in my veins. The domination he exuded wasn't one that spread fear within me. It only proved that he wanted me and would do anything to keep me. He made me feel precious, like a fine diamond. Never in my life had anyone sparked a flame within me by a simple touch or glance. I only hoped he was a man true to his word...I prayed he'd never let me go.

After I watched him pull from the drive, I wandered back into the house and tiredly trekked up the staircase. Once I entered the second floor, I hesitantly twisted the knob on the last room at the end hallway and pushed the door slowly open.

My mother's bedroom sat just as she'd left it. The bed was covered in a baby blue and chocolate-brown comforter. The air smelled musty from lack of life. A thin layer of dust coated the antique cherry-wood furniture and I made a mental note to clean her room sometime soon. Early morning light filtered through the large window facing the drive, casting oddly shaped shadows across the floor as the sunlight streamed through the tree branches outside.

Aro's words played on repeat in my head as I made my way across the room to the gun safe my father left behind. It was tall, made of mahogany, and was about three-feet wide, with a combination lock on the front. Twisting in the numbers I'd memorized so many years before, I opened the safe and ignored the vast amount of weaponry that lay inside. The object I sought lay on the top shelf in a shiny oak box.

I opened the box while sitting on my mother's bed and removed the heavy handgun that lay swathed in red velvet. The metal gun was cold, familiar, and comforting in my small hand.

"Hey, Daddy," I whispered as I made sure to keep my hand away from the trigger, remembering the number one rule my father instilled in me about gun safety; don't put your finger on the trigger until you're ready to fire.

My father taught me how to fire a weapon when I was eight. Rifle, pistol, shotgun, I'd fired them all. We spent hour upon hour deer hunting in the deep woods surrounding our house. I'd listen as he explained our heritage, the importance of providing food for our family, and protecting ourselves from those who'd tried to cause us harm. He instilled the importance of our Second Amendment rights in me at a young age, and was a card-toting member of the NRA. He carried a loaded gun with him everywhere he traveled. I hadn't shot a gun since he died, but before that I was a pretty good shot. I wondered if I still was.

A time would come when I would fire a gun once again. It was a truth that I felt deep within my soul.

Holding that gun, I quietly thanked my father for the things he taught me during our short time together. My father would want nothing but happiness for me, Alice, and our mother. Charlie Swan was a good father to us, and he was a good husband to my mother. But he wasn't what you'd consider a very good man. He was stubborn as hell and fought for what he wanted no matter the consequences. I'd always admired his bravery and strong will.

Aro's face suddenly flashed through my mind. As I held that heavy gun in my hand I realized one thing; I was my father's daughter. And if push came to shove...I'd shove.

* * *

Thanks to everyone who voted for DSDW at The Lemonade Stand and welcome to all my new readers/reviewers that found the story there! Thanks evilnat for the rec ;)

Thanks AliCat0623 for adding/removing millions of commas in every chapter and just being a kick-ass beta in general. You're my boy, Blue!

Okay, so...is it just me or do y'all want Edward Cullen to show you his stars?

Bella's got a gun...what's she gonna do with it, y'all?

Reviews make me giddy. Tell me what you think!

Peace and Love,

Jhood


	10. Chapter 10: The Risk We Take

_A time would come when I would fire a gun once again. It was a truth that I felt deep within my soul._

_Holding that gun, I quietly thanked my father for the things he taught me during our short time together. My father would want nothing but happiness for me, Alice, and our mother. Charlie Swan was a good father to us, and he was a good husband to my mother. But he wasn't what you'd consider a very good man. He was stubborn as hell and fought for what he wanted no matter the consequences. I'd always admired his bravery and strong will._

_Aro's face suddenly flashed through my mind. As I held that heavy gun in my hand I realized one thing; I was my father's daughter. And if push came to shove...I'd shove._

* * *

_Courage is being scared to death...and saddling up anyway._

_~John Wayne~_

**Chapter Ten: The Risk We Take**

It'd been two weeks since I'd last seen Edward, although we continued to speak to one another secretly on the phone, or via text, on a daily basis. His number was saved under the name 'Cash' in my contact list, as mine was saved under 'M.G.' in his. It was a hassle sneaking around behind Kate and Alice's back to speak to him, but it was well worth it.

Edward revealed a lot to me in the two weeks we were apart...and then again he didn't. He told me that Garrett worked in a feed store during the week selling farm supplies, animal food, and other necessities. He spoke of Jasper who worked in Carlisle's furniture factory, biding his time until starting college in the fall. He even talked about his aunt and uncle, Esme and Carlisle, and what wonderful people they were for taking him in after his father's death and treating them like the child they never had.

But there were things Edward skimmed over. He never spoke of what he did in his spare time. I was unsure if he held any type of job, legitimate or not. Edward never revealed whether or not his aunt and uncle were aware of our secret relationship. He never asked about my father and never spoke of his. I hung on his every word waiting on him to bring up his father's death...or mine. But he didn't. Day after day, I found myself growing frustrated as he brushed over the finer details of his life and ignored the one thing in our past that brought us together: our family and their mutual hatred of one another.

It was a bright, sunny Sunday morning. I slipped on my favorite yellow dress as I rushed getting ready for church. I'd missed church the week before, causing my grandmother to hound me for a week straight. Nana harked on me so much that I promised to never miss another Sunday service. She'd smiled, patted my head, and threatened to beat me with a belt if I missed again. Funny, she never threatened the others the way she threatened me.

As I finished getting dressed my phone vibrated on my dresser. A happy grin crossed my face as I glanced down at the text.

_I can't sleep without you in my arms. - Edward_

Grinning like a fool, I quickly texted him back as I slipped a pair of low heels on my feet.

_I'm having trouble sleeping too. Can't get you off my mind. I'll text you later...omw to church. - Bella_

The phone vibrated immediately in my hands, and I nearly dropped the phone with what I read.

_You should go to church. You were a very bad girl the last time I saw you. No complaints here. Can't wait to see the stars in your eyes again. Soon? Tonight? It's been two weeks. If I don't see you tonight I'm kidnapping you. Don't think I'm joking. I'm not. - Edward_

"Sweet Lord in heaven," I breathed as I thought about Edward kidnapping me and showing me his stars.

I felt like a very dirty girl hiding in my bedroom, from my sister and in my Sunday dress, secretly texting a boy who'd given me the most intense orgasm of my life.

Actually, he was the only boy who'd given me an orgasm. The memory of his face staring up at me as he slid his fingers deep within my body played through my mind. I began tingling uncomfortably.

_Ur making it hard for me to leave for church. - Bella_

He immediately returned my text.

_Ur making me hard. Period. I bet ur wearing some little dress. R ur legs showing? Send me a pic of ur legs. - Edward_

It didn't take me long to realize that Edward Cullen was as much of a romantic as he was a perv. Crap! I couldn't concentrate when he said things like that!

Before leaving my house I did one last thing. I glanced at my unlocked wooden bedroom door and pulled my bottom lip between my teeth nervously. If Alice were to burst in my bedroom I'd never live it down. Clutching the hem of my yellow dress, I quickly yanked it up above my thighs and took a snapshot of my exposed legs. After pulling my dress down and sending the photo to Edward, I snickered to myself. I slipped the phone back in my pocket and left my bedroom struggling to keep a somber face as I thought of Edward's reaction to opening the photo message.

I turned the ringer off my cell and ignored the constant vibrations it made as I drove to church. My concerns of Alice bursting in my room were in vain. Alice bailed on me that morning, feigning a headache. She'd returned from Makenna's that morning with droopy, red, dilated eyes, and unruly hair. Alice's clothing reeked of weed and Uncle Marcus's homemade moonshine. I left her laying face down, snoring on the couch.

The rest of my Sunday morning was spent sitting on a wooden pew beside a deceitfully angelic-looking Kate. She wore a modest baby-blue blouse with shiny, white pearl buttons trailing down the front, and a plain tan skirt that ended just below her knees. Her silky blonde hair shone beneath the cheap, wooden ceiling fans that hung overhead in the sanctuary. Her blonde tresses fell in delicate waves as they tumbled past her shoulders and ended midway down her back. Kate's sweet face held only a bit of light makeup.

The only sign of the real Kate Swan was the way she'd shoot Andy, the preacher's son, a sexy smirk as his father stood at the pulpit preaching, ironically enough, about youthful immorality. Andy's slightly tanned face would burn red at each saucy glance she gave him, and he'd shyly dip his head before glancing at her yet again. Kate ran her pink tongue over her teeth and across her shiny red lips when he'd meet her gaze once more. Kate had been after Andy's virginity for years, but had yet to capture it.

Andy shifted uncomfortably in the pew with each penetrating gaze. I'd already hit Kate with my Bible six different times as I sat by her side glowering at her. I managed to tolerate Kate's crudeness on a day-to-day basis at work or while school was in session, but I didn't play her games in the house of the Lord.

Kate, Ben, Emmett, and I sat in the back pew on the right side of the sanctuary like the scorned teenagers we were. Nana sat several rows ahead of us, wearing a black dress with a red rose pattern scattered across the material. It was a dress that went out of style in the eighties and she'd probably gotten it from a dead person's closet at an estate sale. My grandmother was addicted to estate sales and joked how, when she died, we'd end up burying her in a dead person's clothes.

Nana would occasionally glance over her shoulder and send us a scowl as she heard Kate quietly snort in laughter. Kate's parents, Maggie and Felix, sat at Nana's side, but they pretended they didn't hear their daughter's snickers throughout the service. They preferred ignoring Kate's raunchy behavior.

Andy's sister, Missy, turned to give us a cool, haughty stare as she held her upturned nose in the air. Her pale blonde eyebrows were raised on her forehead as she critically gaped at us. That's when Kate gave her an evil grin and made a very crude gesture that involved her tongue and two fingers.

Missy's mouth fell open in shock, and I couldn't hold back the loud gasp that erupted in my throat. Several people turned to give us supercilious stares. Kate leaned over in the pew hiding her face from the onlookers. She chuckled as she stooped over, pretending to pick up a loose church program from the floor. I began coughing frantically in an attempt to explain my burning cheeks to anyone who chanced a gaze my way.

The Mad Hatters were all twisted sideways in their seats staring condescendingly at Kate and I. The Mad Hatters were the elderly ladies who sat near the front of the sanctuary with their fancy box-hats perched on their short, white, curly hair. Their lipstick was crooked on their wrinkled faces because they could no longer see the mirror as well in their seventies as they did in their twenties. Kate dubbed them the Mad Hatters because she secretly despised them. They turned in their seats glaring at the two of us as I hung my head in shame. My cheeks were still flaming.

The Mad Hatters were the most judgmental of church members. They were the wives of the Porch Dwellers. That's the nickname Kate gave the old men in town who did nothing but gather together playing cards and noisily watching everything that took place from the confines of their porches.

When the embarrassment became too much I excused myself from the pew. I purposely stepped on Kate's toes with my heels as I slipped past her, smiling to myself as she painfully grunted.

I used the restroom and got a drink of water from the silver water fountain in the lobby. I swallowed the ice-cold water as it sprang up in a lazy, low arch into my mouth. After taking a few deep breaths I slipped into the empty children's classroom, glancing up at the stained glass window where an unruly haired boy once sat after my father's funeral.

The room hadn't changed much. The same table and metal chairs sat in the middle of the classroom. Bookshelves filled with children's Bible stories lined the walls. The air smelled of old, slightly mildewed carpet and yellowing books. An ancient chalkboard hung from the wall. I smiled as I read the sloppily written names of some of the youngsters in my church scrawled across the board in their child-like handwriting.

Pulling a chair from the table, I quietly sat down and removed my cell phone from my dress pocket. As sinful as it was, I was thankful for Kate's crude interruption during church services. It was the perfect opportunity to text Edward.

He'd sent me several messages since I'd left home, and most of them were crude, begging me for more photos of my legs or my dress. I scrolled past them with a satisfied smirk on my face. The last text asked what I planned on doing with the rest of my day.

_After church I'm eating dinner with my family at my grandmother's. Then I have to put up with the Yanks all evening. - Bella_

It wasn't long before he responded.

_Yanks? - Edward_

_My family from New York. They visit a couple of times a year. It should be fun. Kate and my cousin Bree fight like cats and dogs. I'll probably be sneaking from Alice's stash before the end of the night. - Bella_

I groaned as I hit the send button, inadvertently telling Edward about Alice's stash. It was said in jest. I'd never get high on the Lord's Day.

Twirling a strand of hair around one finger I wondered about Edward's role in his family. Did he dabble in drugs like his relatives did? If he didn't, would he judge me for my accidental admission? What would I do if I found out Edward was involved with his family's drug business? It wasn't long before the phone vibrated in my clammy hand.

_I still want to see u tonight. - Edward_

Edward ignored my stash comment and I groaned in mutual relief and frustration. There was so much I didn't know about Edward Cullen that I longed to know. My finger hovered warily over the phone as I sent him one last text.

_I'll call u later. Going back into church. I'll see you tonight ;) - Bella_

As the service ended, I watched as Judge Davis walked around passing the faded gold-colored collection plate. Judge Davis was a short, balding, portly man in his late fifties, and quite possibly the most crooked criminal in our small town. He and Aro took turns picking up the collection plates full of hard-earned money at the end of each pew.

After the service, I watched as Aro, the preacher, Judge Davis, and Jason Jenks, one of the three lawyers in the county, stood at the end of the brick building smoking cigarettes.

Aro caught my gaze and smiled brightly while gesturing for me to join them. I shuffled across the sidewalk, my very core full of dread. Since my reunion with Edward, and Aro's show of shooting his Bluetick Coonhound, I'd come to despise being within a mile of Aro.

"Isabella! Aren't you turning into a beautiful young woman!" Jason Jenks complemented as he took one last puff of his cigarette and flicked the butt into the thick, white, disrupted slag of the parking lot.

"Thank you, Mr. Jenks," I told him humbly as I stared into his beady blue eyes.

Jason Jenks was in his late twenties and could be a handsome man, if not for the creepiness he exuded. His eyes wandered the length of my body and I shifted uncomfortably under his penetrating gaze. My eyes darted across the lot to see his pretty young wife standing beside their black sedan, chatting happily with another churchgoer.

"Yes, Isabella is beautiful, but she's got brains too," Aro spoke up as he sided up next to me and wrapped his arm around my waist. "She's smart as a whip, I tell ya. There's a rumor going around that Jacob Black's got his eye on her too. They'd make a fine young couple, don't you think, Judge Davis?"

My body stiffened beneath Aro's arm as those words left his mouth. The memory of spying Jacob the night at the train station crept in my mind, and I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat.

"They sure would make a fine couple!" Judge Davis drawled as he flashed his slightly yellowing teeth.

"He's a little...old for me, don't you think?" I muttered nervously as the memory of Jacob ebbed away and was replaced with the one of Edward's face gazing up at me as I sat on his lap.

"You're turning nineteen in September," Aro said as I struggled to refrain from rolling my eyes while he reminded me of my own birthday. "Jake just turned twenty-three. Yup, I have a feeling that Jake will be calling on you pretty soon, Bella. Do your favorite uncle a favor and give the poor boy a chance. His daddy sure has been a good friend over the years."

It took everything within me to stop myself from snorting at his statement. Yeah, Billy Black had been a good friend over the years. Billy Black covered up more evidence on the Swan family that people could ever imagine. There was no telling how much money he'd made off Uncle Aro throughout the years for his indiscretions.

"I'm sure Bella will give him a chance," Jude Davis grinned. "Considering you're her favorite uncle and all. If it wasn't for this man right here you wouldn't have that pretty little lake house you're living in."

Aro's arm fell from around my waist as the words slipped out of Judge Davis's mouth. Aro crossed his arms over his chest and gave the judge a hard glare. Judge Davis simply grinned wider as I glanced, confounded, between the two men. Jason Jenks and the preacher man watched the three of us with rapt attention.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, shooting the judge a frown.

"You mother couldn't come up with the land taxes at the beginning of the year," the judge explained as he pulled a pack of cigarettes from his front pocket and lit one. "That lake house sits on a good bit of property. The land taxes on property like that are ridiculous. When I saw your mother's name in the classified section, along with all the other people's properties left with unpaid taxes, I called Aro. There's no way in hell I could sleep at night knowing Charlie Swan's house and land would be put up for auction because his widow wife couldn't come up with the money."

My uncle looked sheepish under my watchful eyes. My uncle paid our property taxes...and I knew nothing about it. Aro did that for me and Alice. He certainly didn't do it for my absentee, traitorous mother. A mixture of emotions swelled deep within me as I thought of the things my uncle had done for Alice and I throughout the years.

At the beginning of the summer, my father's ancient lawn mower finally gave out, forcing me to use the old, cheap push mower I found in his wood shed. I'd spent two days push-mowing the thick, snake-filled grass surrounding the banks of our lake. When Aro found out from Kate that I was too broke and too stubborn to ask for help, he'd went out and bought me the best riding lawn mower on the market.

Then there was the time Alice stole my Jeep and got pulled over for speeding. Aro used his friendship with Billy Black and kept the ticket off her record, saving me from paying an increased rate on my car insurance because of my sister's foolishness.

Then I remembered Aro's admission about killing Edward's father...and then there was poor old Toby. I wondered, does the good in a person outweigh the bad?

The memory of my father laying cold and motionless in a casket answered my own internal question. No. Aro selfishly ended someone's life, leaving Edward fatherless. My heart wrenched at the thought. I knew all to well how it felt to lose a parent. Aro also allowed that same boy, and everyone else in town, to believe Charlie Swan was the man who ended Edward Sr.'s life.

I thanked my uncle for paying the property taxes and swore I'd save enough money to pay him back. Aro flat-out refused to take any money from me. He threw his arm around my shoulders and gave a quick squeeze before letting go.

I skirted around the issue of Jacob Black taking me on a date. There was no way in hell I'd ever go out with Jacob Black.

The men began talking boisterously about their weekly poker game. They looked ridiculous standing in front of the church smoking their cigarettes and chatting excitedly about gambling as the preacher looked on with a neutral face.

It was no secret that the preacher man liked to dabble in gambling and drinking with the boys from time to time. My uncles, the judge, Jason Jenks, and Billy Black spent every Friday night drunkenly throwing their bets on the table. It seemed like everyone in my small hometown were nothing but dirty scoundrels.

As church ended, my grandmother told me that Kate, Alice, and I would spend the rest of the day after dinner picking vegetables in her garden. The boys were working on the tractor that'd thrown a blade sometime earlier that week, and Nana would be too busy cooking for our family from out of town to work in the garden. I left the church and a grumbling Kate, who didn't mind working in the garden but preferred to spend her Sundays after church drinking beer or whiskey.

After pulling up at the house, I shook Alice, who still lay face-down on the couch. Alice moaned and complained but eventually peeled herself off the couch to take a shower. She met me downstairs and we were humorously dressed much alike with our thin, plaid shirts, cut-off jean shorts, and scuffed cowboy boots. I grabbed a bottle of sunscreen, twisted my hair up in a sloppy bun, and the two of us left the house.

Nana's house was surrounded by gently slopping pastures lined with tall, swooping trees. There were a couple of shade trees scattered about the pasture that my grandfather hadn't sawed down years before. They were once a resting place for horses and cows who suffered as the Mississippi sun beat down on their backs. Small ponds remained near the trees where the farm animals once cooled their parched mouths.

Alice and I clutched the metal handles of two, yellow five-gallon buckets between our fingers. We laughed at Kate who held one bucket in one hand and a gallon of sweet tea in the other. Kate frowned at us from behind her aviator glasses perched on her face.

"Y'all laugh at me now," she snapped with a huff. "But in about thirty minutes you'll be begging for a sip of tea."

Kate was right, of course. My grandpa's old beige cowboy hat perched on my head did little to provide relief from the heat. Alice and I had coated sunscreen on our arms and necks to prevent the inevitable sunburns that we carried on our somewhat fair skin throughout the summer. Kate had doused herself in baby oil. The tan skin on her arms and legs glittered and shone beneath the sun. Within thirty minutes the three of us were taking turns sipping tea straight from the edge of the cheap, plastic pitcher.

The green and brown stains from the vegetables and dirt smeared across my hands, and packed beneath my fingernails, as I toiled in the garden beside my sister and cousin. The sun hung suspended above us in a cloudless blue sky. Rays of sunshine and heat beat down on our backs and arms as we got lost in the routine and monotony of pulling the peas from the vines. The air smelled of earth, sweat, sunscreen, and baby oil. My skin beaded with moisture as the sweltering heat increased heavily. The outdoor thermometer, hanging near my grandmother's back door, told me that it was ninety-eight degrees when we first headed to the garden.

It wasn't above me to work in my grandmother's garden. The truth was, I loved it. I loved the feeling of pulling the vegetables from the earth and getting my hands dirty. My entire life I'd always felt one with nature. It was deeply engrained in my heritage.

My grandparents were both children of dirt-poor farmers, as were most people in Mississippi during that generation. My grandfather began plowing the fields with his daddy's old mule at eight years old. He'd wear shoes too tight for his rapidly growing feet because his parents couldn't afford new ones. His skin would burn beneath the Mississippi sun, and his face, arms, and neck would become tender and red, coining the phrase 'redneck.'

The term 'redneck' somehow became muddled over the years. The word was twisted into something ugly by those who didn't understand it. A redneck was a person who woke up before the sun rose across the fields. He labored and toiled long after it sunk below the horizon, dutifully providing for his family.

My grandmother and her siblings began picking cotton from the time they learned to walk. The hulls of the cotton plant were hard, sharp, and rough. Nana's fingers would break open while pulling the cotton from the hull, causing her skin to burst open and bleed.

Nana's arms told the story of her upbringing. Between the deep wrinkles of her skin lay long, thing scars from toiling in the cotton fields. Light brown spots that she called 'age, liver, or sun spots' ran the length of her arms as they did so many of her friends and neighbors. I told her once that the spots were sun damage and possibly cancerous.

She rolled her eyes, shook her head, and said, "Lord have mercy, child! Well, I ain't dead yet."

My grandmother was one of seven children. Back in those days people produced offspring for the sole purpose of gaining an extra hand on the farm. It was a way of survival.

I knew little about my great grandparents on either side of my family. I did know that Papa Swan's father, fondly known as 'Pappy,' died during the Great Depression. He selfishly avoided watching his family slowly starve to death by placing the barrel of a shotgun in his mouth. He pulled the trigger with his big toe. Pappy left behind a slew of children and a wife who could neither read nor write.

Our Southern history explained some unique quirks in ways that people who weren't from the South had a hard time understanding.

My grandmother was a firm believer in 'cleaning your plate,' meaning you shouldn't leave a crumb behind. Why did she stress that? When you grow up going to bed hungry every night as a child, huddled in the same bed you shared with four other sisters, it makes perfect sense to make sure your grandchildren never go through the same thing.

Nana's cellar was filled with row after row of canned food and homemade wine. The shelves held preserves, and beets as red as blood, that tasted like the sweetest most delectable candy you could ever taste in your mouth. They melted on my tongue, staining my mouth in the violent color. It was all there in case of another Great Depression because it could so easily happen once again.

The need for food in the old days was so great that many of my ancestors lived off the land. That's where my love for hunting and fishing came from. My father took me out many a day on his old boat, casting in a line and educating me on the proper hooks and bait to use for each type of fish.

I received my first gun when I was a small child. My father taught me gun safety and my right to protect myself, my family, and my home. He also gave me the combination to the gun safe, explaining that I was to never give Alice the secret numbers. My sister was unstable even back then. I often wondered if that was possibly something she inherited from Pappy himself.

I found it amusing when people from other places found us odd. I found my people strong, tough, weathered, and humble. We loved the Lord but failed him many times. We were fortunate enough to have a church on every street corner to sit in and quietly ask His forgiveness.

Thankfully, the sun dwindled lower in the sky as the day lagged on. The tale-tale sound of a vehicle's tires slinging gravel down the dusty road drew our attention. A silver BMW sped down the old road. The rays of sun caused the rims to shine as it skid slightly on the loose gravel before slowing down considerably. Alice sighed longingly as she gazed at the vehicle.

It was rare that we saw a new, expensive car in our tiny town, besides the occasional new pickup truck. I'd seen two BMW's in my lifetime, but they were old, used cars. Kate huffed and glared at the car as we watched our relatives from out of town pull into Nana's driveway.

"The Yanks are coming, the Yanks are coming," she muttered dryly as she wiped her dirty hands on her shorts.

"Be nice, Kate," I scolded her as I dropped my gaze from the car and returned to my work.

"Oh, I'll be nice," she snickered. "As long as she is."

I didn't have to ask who she was referring to. Within a few minutes I spotted our cousin Bree clambering up the hill from Nana's house to the vegetable garden. Her long, red hair hung limply from her head, a disappointing casualty of the infamous Mississippi humidity. There were a pair of fancy heels on her feet and she wore fitted skinny jeans and a loose, thin shirt. Makeup coated her face, and I chuckled as I noticed the melted mascara running beneath her eyes, making her look like a raccoon. There was a huge, fake smile plastered on her face that did little to hide the scowl that lingered below.

"Hey, you guys!" she chirped as she approached us.

Bree hesitantly reached out and pulled me into a hug, keeping careful not to pull my sweaty body in too close to her clean, lilac scented one. I patted her awkwardly on the back, smearing a bit of dirt on her shirt that I chose not to bring to her attention. We pulled away from one another and she graced Alice with the same stiff hug. Kate ignored her as she brought the jug of tea to her mouth, sipped, and let out a huge belch. I rolled my eyes and sighed, shooting Bree a genuine smile.

"Hey, Bree. Did y'all have a good trip down here?" I asked.

I wished I hadn't said anything after that, but it was too late. The floodgates had opened and we were the unfortunate victims. Bree stood there, using her tiny hands to fan the hot air on her face, as she proceeded to bitch and moan about the flight, the 'dirty hillbillies', the smell of cow manure, and the sweltering heat.

Kate's lips were drawn in a hard line as she violently tossed vegetables in the buckets, listening to Bree who stood by and continued to jabber.

I knew what Kate was thinking without her saying a word. She was already tired of Bree's tirade, and angry that she stood there watching us work in our grandmother's garden without so much as offering a helping hand. Although she was a visitor, it was still common courtesy to offer help. When Bree told us that she'd rather die than live in Mississippi, Kate finally snapped.

"Get your Yankee ass back in the house right now!" Kate fumed as she glared at the tiny girl and pointed at Nana's house. "I'd shoot you but I don't wanna waste my bullets! Go find an air conditioner and get the hell out of my sight!"

"Kate!" I admonished in a firm voice as I paused and glanced up at her red face.

"Oh, don't you 'Kate' me!" she scowled as she and Bree glared at one another with collective expressions of disgust on their faces. "I tried to be nice, but nice ain't working. My give-a-damn is broke! If you don't get out of this garden, I swear you won't have to wish much longer about being dead! And don't even think about eating anything the entire time you're here! We earn our keep around here! We don't stand around bitching and moaning while everyone else works!"

"Kate, just leave well enough alone," Alice whispered with big eyes as she watched everything go down in flames.

"No, I refuse to stand here and let her insult our heritage and our way of living!" Kate fumed as she wiped the sweat from her upper lip with the back of her hand. "Hell, yeah, I'm a hillbilly! I live in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, bitch! I'm proud to be a redneck! You don't even know what a redneck really is, do you? Now get in that house or I reckon I'll whip your ass!"

"Kate! Just...shut up!" I snapped as Kate whipped her head around and glared at me.

"No, she's right," Bree smirked as she tossed her long, limp red hair over one shoulder. "I'll just go cool off in the house. Y'all have fun now, ya hear?"

I physically had to grab Kate and hold her back as Bree drawled her words out in a fake, poorly executed Southern accent. Bree gave Kate a sugar-coated smile, pirouetted, and stalked away with her head held high as she teetered across the soil in her ridiculous heels. Kate yelled and swore in a loud voice as our cousin disappeared inside the house.

"She just doesn't understand our ways, okay?" I explained to Kate in a patient voice as she slowly wound down. "Just ignore her until we leave. Then you can go home, get sloppy drunk, and forget you ever saw her."

"I won't never forget that hoity-toity bitch!" Kate muttered as she took another sip of tea and glowered in the direction of Nana's house.

There was little else said between the three of us as we finished up for the day. We spotted the boys near the barn, finishing up with the tractor, as we trudged back to the house. They were just as dirty, if not more so, than the three of us girls were. Emmett and Ben were coated in a fine layer of red dirt, and my uncles were dusting off their britches as they washed their arms off with Nana's water hose. They waved at us before we disappeared into the house.

Nana begged us to stay for supper, but Kate, Alice, and I used our exhaustion from working in the garden as a reasonable excuse to vamp. There was no way on God's green earth that I'd subject myself to another unnecessary second of Kate and Bree's bickering.

Although suppertime was still a couple of hours away, our grandmother insisted that we eat something before leaving. The house was crowded while I helped myself to a small portion of Nana's chitlings, so I decided to excuse myself outside to eat. Bree was sitting on the warped bench of the picnic table, absently playing with her cell phone, as I slowly approached. I plopped down beside her and tried to ignore the way she huffed as she held her phone in the air searching for a signal

Aro had killed a fattened hog, and I happily chewed away at the fried chitlings that Nana cooked. Feeling Bree's eyes on me, I ceased chewing. I glanced up and took in her slightly green turgor and wide-eyed wonder.

"What's wrong?" I muttered as I swallowed the small bite of food in my mouth.

"What is that disgusting stuff?" she asked as she gazed down at my plate in horror.

"Chitlings," I responded with a shrug as I stabbed them with my fork and shoved them in my mouth.

"What are chitlings?" she asked, pinching her small nose in disgust at the pungent smell.

"Pig intestines," I told her while rolling my eyes. "Duhhhh!"

I watched, at first in confusion and then eventual awareness, as Bree turned a deeper shade of green. She clutched her stomach and jumped up from the picnic table in Nana's back yard. She stood, frozen for a moment in her sickness. That's when little Alice popped up by her side with a massive plate of greasy chitlings in her hands.

"Mmmm! I love Nana's chitlings!" Alice beamed as she dropped the plate on the table and slid her tiny body on the bench. "Uncle Aro let me clean out the intestines with a water hose after he killed and gutted the hog!"

My sister grinned proudly at her assistance in the animal's demise. Bree retched and darted away towards Nana's back porch and into the house. Her long red hair flowed behind her in the stiff, humid air.

"Ew, what's wrong with her?" Alice asked as she dug in to her food.

"What's wrong with her?" Kate's voice piped up as she joined us at the table with a scowl on her face. "What's wrong is those two-hundred dollar shoes she's wearing. Do you know how much shit I can buy at Wal-Mart with two hundred dollars?"

"Do you know how many bills I can pay on with two-hundred dollars?" I mused thoughtfully.

"Do you know how much Adderall I can buy off the street with two-hundred dollars?" Alice asked dreamily as she stared into space.

"No," Kate and I said in perfect unison after casting one another a knowing glance.

"I hate our Yankee relatives," Kate grumbled as she raised an eyebrow and stared at me, daring me to argue.

I was a pacifist and welcoming to anyone, even our Northerner relatives, but I said nothing. It was impossible to convince Kate otherwise once she had her mind made up on something.

"They watch us with their judgmental eyes, like we are a bunch of freaking aliens, because we live off the land," Kate muttered bitterly as she stabbed at the chitlings on her plate. "Yes, I eat chitlings, damnit! I FLOVE chitlings! I love shooting animals! Does that make me a masochist?! No! It makes me human, damnit! Read the Bible people! God gave us animals to eat! You know what? I think I need to go sip on some Jim Beam and chill out. I'll be back. Alice, keep the flies off my PIG INTESTINES!"

I was unsure who Kate was yelling at as she screamed those final words and stomped to her truck. Our Yankee relatives were in the house escaping the oppressing heat. It was just Alice and I sitting there at the picnic table watching as Kate flounced away.

I did, however, find it humorous that Kate could admonish someone using Biblical scripture and unscrupulously speak of sipping whiskey all in the same breath. That was purely Southern.

"Do you think we are gross for eating this stuff?" Alice asked in an unsure voice.

She stared down at the gooey mess uncertainly. Her thin eyebrows were drawn in worry and she had a look of disappointment on her face.

"Alice," I sighed, shoving my plate away. "There's nothing gross about the things we eat. Bree just...doesn't understand. She doesn't understand that our ancestors were poor and used every single part of the animals they killed to survive on. Her parents probably never went into detail about growing up pissing in the chamber pot they kept under their beds. She's never seen an outhouse. Bree doesn't know what it's like to feel the utmost happiness of being wrapped in a handmade, hand-me-down quilt from our grandmother. She'd be happier with lacy panties from Victoria's Secret's. I'll bet she's never had to wear yard sale shoes, and probably couldn't fire a gun to save her life."

"Um, is there a point?" Alice muttered as I struggled to find a way to convey the things going through my mind.

"My point is...Bree will live her life sitting in traffic and hanging out at Starbucks," I mused, putting my thoughts into words. "One day, when you're old, you'll know the freedom of running through the woods on a foggy morning. You'll know the softness of the mud between your toes before you cannonball into a lake. You'll have the pride of someone who survived on so little but gained so much by doing so."

Alice nodded but continued to look slightly disheartened as she shoved her plate away. She leaned against the wooden picnic table on her tiny elbows and joined me in staring at Kate.

Kate was standing by her pickup truck in Nana's driveway, humorously drinking whiskey from a bottle wrapped in a brown paper sack. She had the Swan scowl on her pretty face as she sipped the warm liquid and got piss drunk. When I heard her crank up Hank Williams, I knew she was looking for trouble.

"Oh, Lord," Alice muttered, dropping her face in her hands.

Kate only listened to 'The Great Hank Williams,' as she called him, when she was either happy as a dead pig in sunshine or mad as an old, wet hen.

She was obviously not happy.

I groaned as 'If Heaven Ain't a Lot Like Dixie' blared out of her truck speakers. It was when Bree finally rejoined us at the table that Kate belted out the last lyrics of the song.

"Just send me to HELL or New York City, it'd be about the same to me!" she hollered as she drunkenly held her bottle in the air, arrogantly saluting our poor cousin.

"She's so mean!" Bree huffed as she dropped down beside me on the sagging wooden bench and frowned at my leftover food.

"Really? I think y'all have a lot in common," I told her in a breezy voice as I stood and collected mine and Alice's plates.

"I'm nothing like Kate," she gasped. "She hates me simply because I'm a New Yorker!"

"You've done nothing but insult our way of living all day long, Bree. Kate's simply doing the same. You're both bias about things you know nothing about," I snapped as I began to walk away. "You both need to grow up!"

I left Kate behind to get rip-roaring drunk in poor Nana's driveway, Alice alone to ponder life's great mysteries, and Bree alone to fume over my honest words.

Entering the house, I dropped the plates in the sink and angrily scrubbed away. It wasn't just my judgmental cousins who I was angry with. I was angry over the fact that I'd spent the entire day subjected to Kate and Bree's mutual hatred for one another when I could have spent it getting lost in Edward Cullen. The stress of the day, paired with the secretive relationship I'd been involved in over the last several days, completely wore me out.

"What's wrong, honey child?" I heard my grandmother's voice say as she shuffled in behind me.

"Nothing, Nana," I muttered, drying the dishes with a soft, mint-green kitchen towel.

"Sweetie, you can fool everyone but you can't fool old Nana," she chuckled as I cast her an innocent gaze. "You've walked around with a goofy grin on your face for the past week, looking like the town drunk. Now you've got your nose all snarled up like you've got shit on your lip. What's bothering you, Bella?"

God, I hated how perceptive my grandmother was at times. Turning to gaze at her I noticed her face held a softness it normally didn't possess. My grandmother was raised by stern, unemotional parents. I'd never heard my grandmother say the words 'I love you' to anyone. Our people weren't the kind of folks to easily show vulnerability. We were tough as pine knots.

"There's so much wrong, Nana," I admitted in a quiet voice as I heard the men in the living room laughing loudly while they chatted happily to one another. "I don't even know where to start."

"Why don't you start at the beginning?" Nana suggested as she raised one delicate dark eyebrow and leaned against the kitchen counter.

I chewed on my lip as my grandmother patiently gazed at me. Could I tell her about Edward? Could I confide in my secret rendezvous?

"You gonna tell me or what?" she finally huffed. "I'm molting over here."

"Fine," I grumbled with a sigh as my eyes darted to the living room door. "Have you ever liked someone who you weren't supposed to like?"

I gazed shyly at her slightly wrinkled face.

Nana's blue eyes widened a fraction before they narrowed in on me suspiciously. She glanced over her shoulder towards the living room door. Then she snatched my elbow and practically dragged me out the kitchen door and onto the back porch. Nana gently shut the door behind us and turned to me with an unfamiliar expression on her face.

"I wasn't always just old Nana Swan, you know," my grandmother whispered as her eyes slightly glazed over behind her glasses, and a whimsical smile tickled her lips. "At one time I was Sueleen Weston. I was a pretty little thing, and I'm not telling you that because I'm vain. It's just a fact. I was a beauty queen and resembled a young Elizabeth Taylor. My mother entered me in beauty pageants to teach me how to walk, talk, and smile pretty. She thought the pageants would teach me decorum and help me snag a husband some day. The boys lined up to ask me for a date, but I always turned them down."

"Why, Nana?" I asked curiously.

My mind played a scene of my raven haired grandmother gracefully turning down hordes of men with a gentle, beautiful smile on her face.

"Because my heart already belonged to someone else," she whispered sadly as her face fell. "I met a boy from a different place...a different town. My parents didn't like him much. It wasn't because he treated me poorly or anything like that. They just had high hopes that their children would marry someone more affluent. We were poor, country folks and didn't have a pot to piss in. They wanted their children to have the things in life that they never had."

"So what happened? You must have married him. Papa Swan wasn't rich. Was the man Papa Swan?" I asked in fascination while anticipating her response.

"I loved your grandfather, Isabella. Don't get me wrong," she replied as she removed her glasses and wiped her misty eyes with trembling fingers. "Lord knows I loved him, and still do. But he couldn't hold a candle to my first true love."

"So what happened?" I repeated gently as I swallowed the lump in my throat.

It was difficult watching my grandmother cry. I'd only seen her do it a handful of times in my life.

"Life happened," she muttered as she shoved her glasses on her face and took a shaky breath. "My parents raised me to be strong. We were all strong. We had to find strength during oppression. But I lacked courage, Isabella. Strength is nothing without courage.

"You're smart, Bella. You're strong and you're courageous. You are everything I desired to be at a young age but wasn't. I made poor decisions in life. I question myself every day about what my life could have been like if I'd followed my heart. Follow your heart, Bella. But be careful with it. If you're doing something you shouldn't do, it'll all come out eventually. Secrets always do."

Nana started for the door after giving her cryptic statement. I reached for her arm and stopped her from entering the house. She gazed at me with a broken expression.

"What happened to him? The man who you loved?" I whispered, dreading her answer.

"I broke his heart," she quietly croaked. "Right after I broke things off with him, he went to war. I met Papa Swan and we married. The boy wasn't there long before he was killed in action, bless his heart. It's my fault he died. I live with it every day."

My grandmother quietly entered the house leaving me behind to ponder her words. The air surrounding me was thick and melancholy. Overwhelming sadness infiltrated my heart as I thought about my grandmother losing her first love.

There were unanswered questions that remained. Why had she married a poor man, my grandfather, if her parent's desire for her to marry someone with money was the real reason she turned her first love down?

I guessed I'd never know the answer to that question. My grandmother had shut down after her speech and entered the house with a practiced, neutral expression on her face. I'd get nothing out of her the rest of the night.

Emmett drove Kate home in her truck in the early evening while Alice and I followed them. Kate was three sheets to the wind and unsafe to drive home on her own. After dropping her off, I carried Emmett home as well. He and Alice laughed and chatted during the drive. I smiled and nodded at the appropriate times, but honestly wasn't paying Em much attention. I was too busy plotting a way of escape so I could see Edward that night.

Nana's story only encouraged me to seek out my hidden feelings for Edward. My life was already so full of regrets. The thought of waking up forty years later without Edward's loving arms wrapped tightly around me was terrifying.

We dropped Em off and headed towards the house. My hands were gripping the steering wheel nervously as I racked my brain, formulating some sort of plan. My sister sat beside me silently, until we pulled into the long driveway down the steep hill. As I cut the engine my sister gazed at me with a contemplating expression on her small, delicate face.

"I know you're seeing Edward Cullen," she told me with a raised eyebrow. "I want you to know I don't agree with what you're doing...but I understand why you choose to."

"You're crazy," I muttered as I avoided her eyes.

"That's what they say," she cracked with a small, bemused grin. "I may be a little crazy, but I'm also your sister. I know you better than you know yourself. Tell me you're not seeing Edward Cullen."

"I'm not seeing Edward Cullen," I muttered rolling my eyes as I stared at our silent, dark house through the front glass of my Jeep.

"Liar," she whispered as I glanced over at her.

Her smile was replaced with a solemn stare. Alice shifted her gaze from me and down to her hands where she nervously played with her acrylic nails.

"Bad things will happen, Bella," she mumbled quietly. "Bad things will happen if you meet him tonight. They may not happen tonight, but they will happen. If you chose him, you chose that as well."

"What kind of bad things?" I whispered as my skin slowly began to crawl.

Alice brought her eyes back up to mine. She pursed her lips and broke the gaze once more to pick at her nails. There was a resigned, yet thoughtful expression playing across the small curves of her face.

"It doesn't matter. You've already chosen," she said sadly with a voice full of resignation, hurt, and anxiousness. "People will rise, people will fall. Someone...maybe more, will die. What was hidden in the darkness will soon come to light. I hope you're prepared for what's coming, sister."

With those final words, Alice opened the Jeep door and slid from the vehicle. I watched her walk slowly up the walkway. Eventually her tiny frame disappeared into the dark house.

There was no time to contemplate Alice's cryptic remarks because my cell began to vibrate in my pocket. Jumping slightly in fright from the object breaking my thoughts, I removed it from my pocket. Edward's face flashed across the screen and I quickly answered, still hidden in my Jeep away from Alice's prying eyes.

"Hello?" I mumbled in a nervous voice as I was still disturbed my Alice's peculiar conversation.

"End of your driveway. Five minutes," Edward told me in a stern voice.

I began protesting but it was in vain. I glared at the screen once it dawned on me that he'd hung up, giving me no choice but to meet him at the end of the long driveway.

The house was still dark and I was unsure what Alice was doing inside. She slept in that day which was strange to say the least. Alice's sleep patterns came and went in spurts. Sometimes she stayed awake for days on end. Then she'd sleep for twenty-four hours straight.

With a heavy sigh, I left my Jeep and shuffled quickly up the long drive. The sound of Edward's car rumbling up the road encouraged me to dart faster uphill. Just as I topped the hill, I spotted Edward, who cut his headlights and crept up beside me.

My stomach was a bundle of nerves. I hadn't seen him, physically seen him, since the night he showed me the stars. Edward cut the engine and stepped out of the car. He froze, staring down at my body. Glancing down at my state of disarray, I was suddenly very self-conscious.

"I know I look horrible!" I moaned as I reached up and removed my grandfather's old hat from my head. "But you didn't give me time to shower!"

"You look like fucking dessert," he muttered as he slowly stalked towards me with darkened eyes.

I took a step back, slightly fearful of the gleam in his eye.

"And I'm hungry," he smirked as he grasped my shoulders and pulled me in for a kiss.

I threw my arms around his neck, dropping Papa's hat to the ground, while moaning in Edward's mouth. He tasted sweet, like sugar and honey. My hands found their way into his wild bronze hair as our tongues danced together.

The next thing I knew Edward's hands were on my ass. He squeezed and hoisted me up. My legs automatically wrapped around his waist. I found that he was already hard and wanton for me. I smirked against his mouth as I rotated my hips slightly.

Edward groaned at the friction my hips caused between us. He turned and practically slammed me against his car. The force of the blow to my body wasn't painful. It felt fucking great. We ground into one another against the old Shelby Mustang, on the side of a country road, in the dusk of evening.

"Let me take a shower and then we'll go somewhere," I muttered against his warm lips. "I've been working in the garden all day. I know I can't smell great."

"You smell like sweat, coconuts, and summertime," he whispered as he sucked my bottom lip into his mouth. "There's not an inch of skin on your body that I don't want to taste."

Edward's hand found its way inside my plaid shirt. He groaned and rocked against me as he found me braless once more. I rarely wore one since I really didn't need to anyway.

"We need to stop," he muttered while rolling my nipple delicately between his fingers. "I'll never get you home in time for supper if we don't stop now."

Edward's words caused me to freeze from what I was doing, which was nipping at his delicious earlobe. Never get me home for supper?

"What do you mean...home for supper?" I asked while pushing his face away from my neck.

I narrowed my eyes and stared at him suspiciously. Edward begrudgingly let my body slide from his. My cowboy boots hit the ground below as I stared at him warily.

"Esme and Carlisle have invited you to supper," he said with a thoughtless shrug while tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear. "I told them okay. So here I am picking you up for supper."

"You told them okay?" I hissed, punching him in the shoulder. "Without asking me first? I can't go to your house!"

"Why not?" he asked, following me as I began stomping to the driveway.

He caught me within a few feet, spun me around, and held my flailing arms to my sides as I tried to escape his firm grasp.

"Why not? I'm not having supper with my father's killer!" I spat.

My heart thumped against my chest and tears sprang to my eyes. The audacity of Edward to speak on my behalf...to agree with me breaking bread with a man who quite possibly murdered my father was absurd!

My words caused his grip to loosen slightly. Mossy green eyes bore into chocolate brown ones as the two of us met one another in an angry face-off. My gaze held firm. I would not back down. I loved this boy, but that didn't mean I had to love his family.

"Get. In. The. Car," Edward whispered in a low, threatening tone as his eyes flashed dangerously.

The vein on his left temple was bulging. His jaw was clenched in frustration, and his hands were drawn in such hard fists that his knuckles had turned white.

"No," I whispered, mocking the sound of his voice as I glared back at him.

Spinning on my heel, I darted down the drive. My boots clacked against the dry, crumbling pavement. Edward grabbed me around the waist and dragged me, kicking and screaming, back to his car. He threw me effortlessly across one shoulder and struggled to open the passenger door, like any true gentleman would do. I pounded my balled fists against his toned, firm arm wrapped tightly around my legs. One of my cowboy boots flew off as I kicked him.

My actions were fruitless, of course. As I pounded against the lean, toned muscles of his back, Edward gave me a hard, angry slap on my ass. I yelped in shock, pain, and desire. The fact that he could manhandle me while simultaneously turning me on was infuriating.

Edward tossed me in the passenger seat as though I were weightless. I landed on the dark leather with a squeak and glared up at him. I wasn't fearful, although I probably should've been. In my heart, I knew he wouldn't hurt me. He was just completely bull-headed and wouldn't take no for an answer. Or as he would say, 'persistent.' Fucker.

"Why do you think Carlisle murdered your father?" he asked, towering over me with one hand placed on the car door and the other on the roof of the car.

"Because...because that's what I've always been told," I muttered feebly wishing I was anywhere but in his car at that moment.

"Told by who? Aro?" he scoffed, shaking his head in disappointment.

There wasn't a chance to respond. Edward grabbed my boot and hat from the ground. The tossed them both in my lap, slammed the door, and glared at me through the dark glass. It was a silent dare for me to attempt an escape. Huffing, I crossed my arms over my chest and turned my face to the front glass.

Edward stalked around the Mustang and slid into the driver's seat. He pulled the door behind him and turned the ignition. The car roared to life. It shook and vibrated around the powerful engine, which did nothing to extinguish the fire that erupted between my legs caused by Edward smacking my ass. After taking my hand and placing it on the gear shift beneath his, Edward pulled off the side of the road and headed North towards Birchwood. I grumbled below my breath as I shoved my foot back into the cowboy boot.

"What if everything you ever thought you knew was wrong?" Edward asked, finally breaking the silence.

I turned and gazed at him in the pink, dusky light that lit the earth. Gone was the angry, daring expression. His face was soft and lacked the smidgen of arrogance it normally possessed. Edward cast me a solemn stare as he shifted gears with my hand still beneath his. The sound of the tires hitting the gray bridge, which separated our two worlds, rang in my ears.

"What do you mean?" I asked him quietly as I pondered his words. "Who else would kill my father but Carlisle? It was revenge...for my father killing yours."

My words sounded weak even to me. Aro killed his father. I wanted to scream the words as Edward heard the dishonesty in my voice. He frowned as the back tires left the gray arch that clambered high over the muddy brown waters below. Edward studied my pinched face from the corner of his eyes.

"Carlisle didn't kill your father, Bella," Edward told me in a low, steady voice as I stared at him in doubt. "Don't you think he'd be rotting away in a Mississippi prison if he killed your father...if any Cullen killed your father? Hell, Billy Black tried everything in his power to pin it on Carlisle. But Carlisle had an air-tight alibi. I'll tell you one last time, my uncle didn't murder your father."

"If he don't kill my father...then who did?" I asked quietly as Edward pulled his car down a long, dark country road.

"I don't know, Bella," Edward muttered as our intertwined fingers shifted gears. "But I'm gonna find out. Even if it kills me. Because that's the risk we take."

"Take for what?" I asked as the evening light wanted in the distance and the green pines branches whirled by.

"For love, Bella," he told me, squeezing my fingers in his hand and shooting me a charming smile. "That's the risk we take for love."

* * *

First of all, thanks to my beta AliCat0623. I love you, Boo!

Thanks goes out to everyone who voted for my fic, Breakaway Bella, at twifanfictionrecs . com. For some crazy reason, it won first place for fic of the month of January. I'm truly humbled that my very first fic won something like that! This is why I FLOVE y'all sooo much ;)

DSDW was featured on Rob Attack Friday (robattack . wordpress . com). Check out this site if you're craving some good fic recs. Wiltshire Glo wrote wonderful, flattering things about DSDW that made me feel all warm and squishy inside ;) Thanks, Glo!

FYI: Alice's warning was not made in vain. There will be some minimal angst in future chapters. You've been warned ;)

So the only thing I gotta know is...who's ready to meet Big Daddy C and Mama Esme? Leave me a review. They make my day!


	11. Chapter 11: Allies

_"Carlisle didn't kill your father, Bella," Edward told me in a low, steady voice as I stared at him in doubt. "Don't you think he'd be rotting away in a Mississippi prison if he killed your father...if any Cullen killed your father? Hell, Billy Black tried everything in his power to pin it on Carlisle. But Carlisle had an air-tight alibi. I'll tell you one last time, my uncle didn't murder your father."_

_"If he don't kill my father...then who did?" I asked quietly as Edward pulled his car down a long, dark country road._

_"I don't know, Bella," Edward muttered as our intertwined fingers shifted gears. "But I'm gonna find out. Even if it kills me. Because that's the risk we take."_

_"Take for what?" I asked as the evening light wanted in the distance and the green pines branches whirled by._

_"For love, Bella," he told me, squeezing my fingers in his hand and shooting me a charming smile. "That's the risk we take for love."_

* * *

_Love is the only force __capable _

_of transforming an enemy _

_into a friend._

_~Martin Luther King, Jr.~_

**Chapter Eleven: Allies**

We drove swiftly down a long, winding gravel road. The green branches of the trees hanging overhead were just a blur as I stared nervously through the window. Occasionally I'd spot the river to my right, peeking out through the pines and oaks.

Eventually we turned off the main road and onto a long gravel drive. There was nothing about the drive that stood out to the casual passerby. In fact, the drive was nestled so closely within the forest, it could be easily overlooked unless you were searching for it.

Edward gave my sweaty hand a comforting squeeze, and I glanced at him nervously. I gave him a feeble squeeze in return. A lopsided grin tugged at one corner of his mouth, and then he stared doggedly ahead.

A large, two-story lodge-style wooden house loomed up ahead. The home was a mixture of dark wood and rock. Large windows graced every section of the house. The yellow glow of the lights inside gave the house a warm, comforting appeal. Just past the house was a break in the trees, and I spotted a glimpse of the muddy waters of the Tenn-Tom churning lazily in the distance.

The large, wooden house had a massive wrap-around porch with dark wicker furniture nestled cozily about. Flowerpots bursting with red and yellow blooms hung prettily from the eave. Giant, burgundy vases of flowers lined each side of the porch steps.

Sitting comfortably with his arms splayed across a wicker couch sat none other than Carlisle Cullen. Although I hadn't see him in six years, Carlisle's face was one I'd never forget. It was the face of my father's killer.

Or so I thought.

Edward pulled near a large garage to the right of the house. I recognized Jasper's truck immediately. It was the same primer-gray truck he'd stood by the night of Tanya Daniels's party. The truck was striking in comparison to the other vehicles parked nearby, and also to the house itself. It was neither pretentious, nor eloquent.

Edward cut the engine and gazed at me carefully. My stare was fixated on Carlisle, who'd yet to move. His eyes held steadily on Edward's car as we sat silently in the drive.

"I'd never intentionally put you in any danger. You know that, right?" Edward asked me solemnly as he reached and tilted my chin to face him.

There was nothing but trust ringing in his voice. I saw pure, raw honesty in his mossy eyes. I nodded slowly, and he shot me a lazy, sexy grin.

Edward opened his door, and I was suddenly thankful the car's interior light didn't switch on as he did so. The way Carlisle gazed at me through Edward's open door already made me feel like a fish in a fishbowl. To have an overhead light shining down on me would have made it a million times worse. Carlisle's stare was neither angry, nor frightening, but it was still completely penetrating and made my skin crawl in anticipation of the inevitable.

I jumped in fright as Edward slammed his door then opened mine. My legs trembled as I stepped out of the vehicle.

I instantly wished I had my Daddy's hand gun to protect myself. I'd been practicing my aim with it on the down-low while Alice was hanging out with Makenna or her other friends. But that gun was currently stored on the top shelf of Daddy's safe.

Edward threaded his fingers through mine and tugged me slowly beside him to the porch. The smell of steaks sizzling on a grill close by lingered in the humid air.

Carlisle continued to gaze at me, although his eyes finally left my face to take in my disheveled appearance. He silently appraised my rumbled clothes, dirty knees, and scuffed boots as I followed Edward onto the porch. I tugged nervously at my shirt, trying to pull out the wrinkles that accumulated from bending over in the garden all day. I felt as though I was walking down the plank, or maybe standing in front of a firing squad.

Carlisle Cullen continued to be the distinguished, elegant man I remembered at the funeral parlor. He wore a crisp, blue button-up shirt, and tan slacks. His arms were golden tan from days beneath the hot sun. The shiny blonde hair and cool blue eyes were still there, however, his temples turned slightly gray over the past few years. There were fine lines at the corners of his eyes and around his mouth, yet those slight imperfections worked to his advantage, somehow giving him an even more refined appearance. I didn't remember the laugh and smile lines gracing his face the last time I gazed upon him, which didn't surprise me. I had my eyes on Edward that day.

"Hello, Isabella," Carlisle finally spoke in a friendly, yet firm voice as he continued to appraise me.

I could do it. I could be a polite Southern Bella with a charming smile and friendly disposition. For Edward, I would do it.

"Good evening, Mr. Cullen," I said in a polite voice with a small smile on my face as I tilted my chin up a fraction. "You can call me 'Bella,' sir. I apologize for my state of attire. Edward was anxious for me to meet his family, and didn't allow me enough time to properly clean up after working in the garden all day."

Carlisle quirked an eyebrow at my words. He gave Edward a small, frown before his eyes darted back to my own.

"Well, Bella, I owe you an apology as well," he said in a cool voice as he gazed back at Edward who looked slightly sheepish all of a sudden. "My nephew is nothing if not stubborn and impatient. I'm sorry for his rudeness by not allowing you clean to yourself up before supper. He obviously didn't get his manners from his father's side of the family."

"However," he continued as he lit a cigar and puffed at it several times. "I appreciate a hard-working girl. You're the first of your kind in that regard to show up beside Edward on our doorstep."

Edward's hand stiffened in my own. Glancing at him uneasily, I noticed how his eyes narrowed a bit on Carlisle's. I wasn't a fool. It was obvious Edward had his fair share of girls in the past. He was too good with his fingers...too good with his mouth. He was handsome, confident, and charming, but he'd done me no injustice. Those girls in the past were just that; in the past. Besides, it wasn't as though I hadn't had the fumbling fingers of teenage boys explore my body. They just didn't have the same effect over me that Edward's did.

Still, a sting of jealousy shot through my chest. It was a twisting, sickening feeling, but I stubbornly brushed it aside and saved it for later. Turning my gaze back to Edward's uncle, I was met with taunting, laughing eyes. It was then I realized Carlisle Cullen was baiting me.

So I stubbornly took the bait.

"It's a shame that Edward's kept poor company," I finally said, ignoring Edward's stare as his hand clenched harder on my own. "I guess we all have at some point."

I shrugged carelessly after the words left my mouth. Carlisle's eyes widened minutely before he brushed the look aside and replaced it with a smirk. He looked at his nephew and gauged Edward's reaction. Edward's eyes bored in the side of my head as he assessed my words. It was my way of telling Carlisle, and Edward himself, that I accepted Edward had a past, but I was no angel myself.

Carlisle chuckled quietly at the irate expression on Edward's face.

"Edward, why don't you head out back and help Jasper with the steaks while Bella and I get to know one another a little better?" Carlisle suggested as he stared at me and puffed on his cigar. "When Jasper cooks steak I feel like I'm chewing on an old, busted tire. That boy can't boil water! Why Esme insists he man the grill is beyond me."

Edward nodded, much to my horror. He gave my temple a light kiss that did not escape Carlisle's notice. Edward walked away with a slight frown, and his hands tucked casually in his faded jeans. He disappeared around the corner of the wrap-around porch leaving me alone with my family's sworn enemy.

Carlisle gestured for me to sit in a chair close to his side. I opted for the chair farther away. Lowering myself in the red-cushioned wicker chair, I met his unwavering gaze with one of my own.

"You don't bend under pressure, my dear," he complimented as he took one last puff of the cigar and crushed in into the ashtray perched on the wrought-iron table that separated us. "That's impressive."

"Of course I don't," I told him indignantly. "I am a Swan, after all."

Carlisle raised his blonde eyebrows in surprise at my statement. He then chuckled and smiled fondly.

"That's true," he mused as he rubbed his chin. "You are a Swan. Have you taken that into consideration at all in this thing you have with my nephew? The implications, that is. What will happen when your relatives find out about you and Edward? Are you not concerned with your safety? Edward's?"

"Yes, I'm concerned," I finally snapped as all thoughts of being polite and charming vanished. "I tried to keep him away, for his safety more than my own! But he's as stubborn as a mule! He wouldn't let me be!"

"Yes, Edward is bull-headed," Carlisle chuckled with twinkling blue eyes. "Especially when it comes to you. Do you remember meeting him at your father's funeral, Bella?"

"Yes," I whispered, disgusted by the way he so casually mentioned my father's death.

"Do you know what he told me after we left the church that day? When we got into my car?" he asked quietly with a serious expression.

"No," I said with a frown.

"He said 'Uncle Carlisle, I'm going to marry that Swan girl some day,'" Carlisle laughed, stunning me with his words. "And I had no doubt even at his young age that he meant what he said. My nephew never says anything he doesn't mean."

I played with the hem of my shirt and stared down at my lap as Carlisle's words sank in. It wasn't until that precise moment that I realized the extent of Edward's affection for me. I knew he loved me. He'd told me as much by his actions. He'd even attempted to voice those three words the night he held me in his arms on my deck beneath the dim moonlight. But to hear from his uncle, his pseudo father, that he'd loved me all those years, was utterly overwhelming.

The idea of marriage sometime in the distant future was a ridiculous notion. There wasn't one moment in my life that I imagined myself someday growing up and becoming a wife. I wasn't the little girl who dreamed of white gowns and wedding cakes, dressing her dolls up and marching them down a make-believe aisle. I was the girl who played with army men and yellow, metal dump trucks in the dirt. The only time I'd held a Barbie was the time I stole one of Alice's, pulled its head off, and tossed it in our lake. It was revenge for her stealing and breaking my drawing pencils.

"Are you ready for that type of love, Bella?" Carlisle asked softly, breaking me from my thoughts of beheaded Barbies as I glanced up and met his unsure eyes.

"You must have at least a slight understanding of how intense Edward is," Carlisle continued as we gazed at one another. "That type of love is all-consuming. It knows no limits and no bounds. It is not shackled by the restraints of time. It is everlasting. It can also be very dangerous."

"Dangerous?" I whispered as he studied my face.

"Yes, my dear," he said with a slight, confirming nod. "Dangerous. How much do you know about Edward? About his life? His past? His present? His future?"

"Not much," I begrudgingly admitted.

"I'm not surprised," Carlisle said as he leaned back in the wicker couch and crossed one leg over the other. "Now that he has you, he's terrified of losing you. If you find out who he really is, maybe you'll change your mind about being with him."

"Never," I told him in a stubborn, sure voice. "I don't care. I don't care who he is or what he does. I'm in it for life."

"And why's that?" Carlisle asked with a raised eyebrow just as Edward rounded the corner.

By the look I saw on his face, Edward had obviously caught the end of our conversation. Gone was the disheartened frown. He stood silently behind Carlisle with his arms crossed over his fitted, white shirt. He gave me that sideways, crooked grin that sent my heart speeding and the blood churning in my veins. There was only one answer to Carlisle's question. Only one answer explained the consequences of both of our negligent actions.

"Because that's the risk we take with love," I whispered, glancing timidly between the two men as I repeated Edward's own words.

Edward's crooked smile grew wider, and his handsome face brightened. Carlisle looked surprisingly pleased with my response. I honestly couldn't figure him out. I despised the kind, welcoming way he treated me. I despised it because I desired nothing but to hate him. But there was no hate in my heart for the man sitting across from me. There was slight uncertainty and bewilderment, but no hate.

Edward eased around his uncle and stood behind my chair. I felt his fingers delicately ghost over my shoulders from behind.

"You remind me of a girl I once knew," Carlisle mused with a grin. "Beautiful, smart, sassy, stubborn as hell...she had it all."

"What happened to her?" I asked as his eyes lit up and darted behind Edward and I.

"He better say he married her," a soft, yet strong feminine voice responded. "Or he'll be sleeping on the sofa for the next fifteen years."

The sound of a female voice brought me to my feet. Standing in the doorway of the house was a beautiful woman, possibly in her early forties. Her hair was the color of caramel icing, with honey colored undertones that glowed beneath the yellow porch lights. It fell just past her shoulders in thick, soft waves, brushing across the fabric of the fitted, coral dress she wore. She was petite with soft, gentle curves, and a round, delicate face. Her eyes were hazel, and reminded me of my mother's, except this woman's eyes shone with kindness and understanding whereas my mother's were always vengeful and angry.

She smiled lovingly as she slowly approached me the way someone would approach a wounded animal.

"Hello, Bella," she said in a friendly voice with a polite grin. "I've been waiting to meet you for quite a while. I'm Edward's aunt, Esme. Or you can call me 'Mama Esme.' Everyone else around here does."

Edward placed his hands gently on my waist as I reached out and took her offered hand in my own. Her hand was soft and smooth, and I cringed as I pulled my dirty one away. She didn't seem to care about my lack of personal hygiene. She simply beamed at me as though we were lifelong friends.

The woman's sweet demeanor pricked my heart, casting some sort of strange spell over me. Before I knew it, I was profusely apologizing for my disheveled appearance. She grinned and waved her hand at my rambling in an unconcerned manner.

"It's all right, dear," she said in a soothing voice. "I hope Carlisle hasn't been giving you a hard time out here."

Esme quirked an eyebrow at her husband, gazing at him as though she already knew the answer to her statement. Carlisle looked a bit sheepish as he smiled at her. The expression on his face, as she rolled her eyes and huffed at her husband, caused a knot of acknowledgment to form in my throat. It was the same way Edward looked at me: wicked bemusement intertwined with love.

"Y'all come on in and eat before these mosquitoes carry you off," Esme said.

Carlisle rose from his seat as his wife turned and disappeared into the house. His close proximity behind me, as I followed Edward timidly inside, set me on edge. We entered the house and I gazed around in awe.

I'm not sure what I expected when I entered the home of my family's rival. I supposed I assumed the decor would be slightly ostentatious, but it wasn't. As we stepped inside the house, I was immediately hit with a sense of calmness and warmth. It felt like a soft quilt wrapped around my cold body, or the feeling of Nana's hands calming me in my youth after an awkward fall. It almost, but not quite, wiped away the feeling of tension radiating around me caused by being in Carlisle Cullen's presence.

The living room was large and decorated in chocolate brown, hunter green, and a deep crimson. Native American style quilts and rugs were scattered around the room. There was a huge rock fireplace against the far wall with a mantle proudly displaying family photographs. Soft, brown leather furniture surrounded a large, low-sitting wooden table in the center of the room. Oil paintings of rickety gray barns, rolling green pastures, and muddy, brown rivers hung along the walls.

My senses were assaulted with the unmistakable smell of a cake baking in the oven. The baker within me sternly told me the cake was ready to come out of the oven. I twisted my fingers in my hands anxiously as Esme pointed at various objects in the den and talked animatedly.

Edward, Carlisle, and I stood quietly behind her as she showed me the antique furniture she'd collected over the years, a large shadow box holding dozens of arrowheads that Carlisle found scattered about their property, and an intimidating elk head mount that stared blankly down at us from his home over the fireplace. I finally built up the nerve to interrupt her as she led me to her depression-era glass.

"Mrs. Cullen," I spoke as she turned from the curio and glanced at me in surprise. "I think your cake is ready."

Esme gave a quiet yelp as her eyes widened in realization. She darted to the kitchen with her curls bouncing against her dainty shoulders. After grabbing a pair of oven mitts, she flung open the oven door and snatched a bunt cake from the oven. Carlisle and Edward chuckled by my side.

"She always forgets to set the timer," Edward explained as we heard Esme curse lowly and toss the hot cake on a cooling rack.

"Well, look-a here," I heard a voice drawl. "A Swan in the Cullen house. Hell musta froze over."

Jasper Hale strolled into the living room from the back porch. There was a grin stretched across his face. A large platter stacked with steaks was in his hands. He wore a pair of loose, tan shorts ending below his knees and a pair of brown, leather flip-flops. The blue v-neck tee he wore emphasized his shining blue eyes and soft, shaggy blonde hair.

I frowned at him, remembering the train station and the cocky grin he'd held on his face as he and Royce King goaded me. It occurred to me in that moment that'd I'd never seen Jasper Hale up close and personal without darkness surrounding us.

Jasper shot me a wicked grin and strolled in the direction of the kitchen where Esme was busily removing glasses from a cabinet. As he passed by I took in a deep, sharp breath at what I saw on his skin.

Scars. Long, thin scars were lightly imbedded in his tan arms and legs, trailing the length of his skin and disappearing beneath his clothes. The scars were long healed and slightly puckered in pink flesh. They were hidden beneath the dim moonlight when I'd met Jasper in the past, but they were unearthed beneath the bright overhead lights in his home.

Edward's hands remained on my waist. His grip became firmer as he heard my surprised reaction. I glanced up at him in concern and confusion, but he simply shook his head a fraction. His solemn green eyes told me not to question what I'd seen, not that I would have anyway.

"Bella, why don't I get you some clothes and let you take a shower before supper?" Esme suggested as she swatted the hand of a grinning Jasper who tried stealing a buttered roll from a basket. "My clothes may be a little big on you, but I'm sure you'd be more comfortable after a shower."

"That's very nice of you, Esme," I murmured, thankful for her kindness.

"I'll grab some clothes and let Edward escort you to his bathroom upstairs," Esme said.

She left the kitchen, but not before shooting me an evil wink. I glanced at Edward, but he didn't seem to notice the slightly sinister smile on his aunt's face. Esme returned with a clean pair of jeans, a shirt, and a pair of socks. She instructed me to throw my dirty clothes in Edward's hamper so she could wash them and he could return them later.

Edward escorted me, hand in hand, up a large staircase. We entered a long hallway and he pushed open a nearby door. He pulled me into at bedroom and I glanced around curiously.

I faced nothing but glass in front of me, for one wall was nothing but several huge floor-to-ceiling windows. A large bed covered in a midnight blue comforter with matching thick, fluffy pillows sat against the wall to my left. The other walls held shelves of albums and books. I ran my fingers across the bindings of the books, recognizing several familiar titles and authors. Edward's record collection was quite impressive and I was secretly pleased that he seemed to have the same love of classic country music that I had. An oak desk sat nearby with papers and envelopes scattered about.

The names of various college letterheads grabbed my attention. I picked up the first one my eyes landed on as Edward snatched it from my hand.

"That's private," he muttered, gathering up the various papers and shoving them in the desk drawer.

I raised an eyebrow and stared at him indignantly as I said, "Really? Just like my sketchbook was private? That didn't stop you from taking it from me."

Edward sighed and rubbed his fingers briskly against his forehead. I turned away from him and strolled around the room, gazing at the various items that sat on his shelves. A realistic model of a skeleton sat on one shelf, and a model of the human brain sat beside it. I noticed a book laying beside the models with a sketch of a human brain on the cover. I picked it up and flipped it over, reading the back of the book.

"It's about epilepsy," Edward quietly confessed as my head snapped up at his voice. "My father...he had epilepsy."

"Are you going to college to become a doctor or something?" I asked him as I placed the book carefully where I found it.

"I was..." he said with his voice trailing off at the end.

I glanced up and met his serious stare. His eyes darted across my features as my own eyes narrowed at his words. Edward swallowed and gave me a lopsided grin.

"Don't smile at me like that," I snapped. "What do you mean 'you was?' Why aren't you now?"

"That's before I found you," he said with a careless shrug. "I can't leave you now...now that I've finally got you."

"Edward," I whispered, horrified. "You can't turn down an opportunity like that for anyone! Get that out of your head right now!"

"Let's talk about it later," he said, brushing the conversation to the side as I glared at him.

Edward pulled my stubborn body into his arms and planted a slow kiss on my lips. I didn't return it at first, because I was still pissed off that he'd even think about turning down an opportunity like he'd been given. But my body soon won against my mind, and I found myself molded to him as he deepened the kiss. I pulled away from him as the memory of those college acceptance letters flashed through my mind, but the next words to fall from his mouth would become my undoing.

**EPOV**

"Come here and let me give you some sugar," I drawled as I shot her a grin and pulled her to my bed.

"You've already given me some sugar," she said with a glare and a frown, as the back of my knees hit the edge of the bed, and I sat down.

Bella was mad at my admission, but I'd been truthful with her. There were times in my life when I couldn't be honest, not with her, not with anyone, so anytime the opportunity arose to voice the truth, I took it.

I wanted her. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. She was a part of me. We were cut from the same fabric. We had the same background, the same fucked up lives, the same family rivalry. She was strong, responsible, beautiful, smart, and she was killing me.

She was killing me wearing a red plaid shirt, frayed daisy dukes, and a pair of old, worn cowboy boots. There was a light dusting of dirt streaking across her legs from her knees to her thighs. Something about her being physically dirty made me crave her body that much more.

I grabbed the back of her knees, pulling her small, warm body to mine, and closed the distance between us. Bella stood between my legs and tangled her small hands through my hair.

"I didn't say anything about giving you sugar on your mouth," I clarified as I reached beneath the leg of the tiny cut-off shorts and ran my fingers across the front of her silky panties. "I want to give you some sugar _here_."

Bella let out a strangled gasp as my thumb ran across her clit. The front of her panties were already soaking wet. Pushing her panties aside, I began slowly massaging her clit, humming in happiness as she grew wetter with each stroke.

"I just want a taste," I clarified as I dipped one finger inside her and carefully swirled it around inside her tight, wet body.

"Edward," she moaned, tugging my hair roughly in her hands.

I loved it when she pulled my mother fucking hair.

I dipped another finger inside her, deeper, rougher, and her knees practically buckled at the action. Something snapped inside me as Bella moaned and yanked harshly at my hair. I slowly stood up and towered over her as I continued to pump my fingers deep within. She gazed up at the dark, hungry expression on my face. Bella's chocolate eyes were wide in fear and lust as I looked down at her. She probably knew my intentions as I confessed my desire to taste her, and I hoped I would be the first to ever pleasure her that way.

"I bet you taste so good," I whispered as I removed my fingers from within her and brought them to my mouth. "Have you let anyone else kiss those lips, Bella? You know which ones I'm talking about."

"No," she gasped as she watched me suck her wetness from my fingers.

The expression on her face was comical. She didn't know whether to be disgusted or turned on.

"Hmmm...salty and sweet," I smirked as I removed my fingers from my mouth.

"This shirt has to go," I muttered as I clutched the thin, red plaid fabric and pulled the shirt open.

The metal clasps popped with each tug, and I was rewarded with the most delicious sight. Bella was once again braless. The shirt fell from her shoulders and drifted to the floor near her boots. If my dick wasn't hard before, it was then.

Bella's labored breathing was all I heard as I cupped her breasts in my hands. They were perfect; not too big, not too small. They fit in my hands like they were made for that sole purpose. Her skin was soft like velvet, and her nipples were pebbled, rosy, and strained between my fingers.

"Can I give you some sugar, Baby?" I whispered in her ear before licking her earlobe, sucking it in my mouth, and twisting her nipple between my fingers. "Can I kiss you down here?"

I let one hand abandon her breast and trail beneath her shorts. My fingers returned to her wet sex. A throaty whimper was her only response to my question. I took that as a mother fucking yes, removed my fingers, turned her around, and gently pushed her on the bed.

Bella landed on her back with her breasts bouncing slightly as she leaned on her elbows. A mixture of emotions played across her face: fear, uncertainty, longing. She scooted back on the bed away from me, with wide eyes, as my knees hit the mattress. I crawled towards her, stalking her like I was the predator and she was the prey. When her head knocked gently against the headboard she froze, looking like a deer caught in headlights.

"Answer me, Bella," I told her in a firm voice. "Can I kiss you here? Can I taste you?"

I brushed my fingers against the seam of her shorts between her legs, making sure I didn't touch her bare skin. I was torturing her, teasing her with gentle strokes, as I impatiently awaited her response. It was a shitty thing to do, but I couldn't care less. I wanted her in my mouth, and when I wanted something I didn't stop until it was mine.

Bella said nothing. After taking one deep, ragged breath, she unbuttoned her shorts and tugged at the zipper. I shoved her shaky hands away and yanked both her shorts and panties down in one hard tug. I threw them carelessly over one shoulder, grabbed her knees, which she had pried together, and pulled her legs apart.

"Don't be scared, Baby," I whispered as she gazed nervously at me. "I'll make you feel so good. Can I make you feel good, Darlin'?"

That word did something to her. I learned that the night we spent under the stars. Bella's eyes glazed over at the word. She nodded as I smirked down at her and pulled my shirt over my head. Bella stared at my bare chest and took a deep breath. Afraid she'd change her mind, I dove in, so to speak.

I took my time before tasting her. I spread her open with my fingers, gazing at her pink, wet folds before gently stroking her swollen clit with my thumb. Bella swore below her breath as she moaned and fisted the sheets in her hands. I glanced up and met her dark eyes. I loved it when my baby watched me touching her.

Keeping my eyes on hers, I flicked my tongue lightly against her clit and grinned as she hissed and then squirmed against my mouth. I nibbled, sucked, and licked her clit until I found what worked for her. She liked it when I flicked my tongue up and down against that hard nub. She loved it when I ran lazy, torturous circles against it. And rough. My baby also liked it rough. She didn't want me going easy on her.

I could tell she was nervous by the way her legs constantly drew together as her thighs trembled beneath my hands. I simply pushed her thighs open wider, fueled by the moans escaping her lips and the way she grasped my hair between her fingers.

Slipping one finger deep inside her, I smirked as her hips arched and she pressed herself fully into my mouth. Satisfaction and pride washed over me because I did that shit. I made her feel that way.

After working her with my middle finger for a while, I added another one, pushing it inside her taut, wet body. I snickered against her nub as she pressed her hand over her mouth in a futile attempt to drown out her screams. The movement of her hips increased as she drove herself harder against my fingers and mouth.

Bella's back arched off the bed as I slowly pumped my wet fingers inside of her. I gazed up at her pert breasts and her perfect, puckered nipples. Reaching up, I gave one a pinch with my free hand, and that's when I recognized a familiar expression on her face.

Chocolate eyes filled with tears stared down at me in desire and yearning. When she teared up, I knew she was close to the point of no return.

I tweaked at her nipple again, rolling and pinching it as she grew wetter and wetter. I flicked my tongue faster over her nub. Curling my fingers up inside her, I pumped, sucked, and licked frantically until I felt her tighten around my fingers.

Her body quaked and clenched around me as she gasped, moaned, and yelled my name. A grin crossed my face as she feverishly ground herself against my mouth and fingers, desperately riding out her orgasm. Her chocolate hair was splayed out around her, and her cheeks were stained pink. I gave her nub one last flick of my tongue before I slowly crawled up her body.

I was shocked when she pulled my face down to hers and gave me a deep kiss. Bella didn't seem to mind tasting herself on my tongue. Before I knew it I was grinding myself against her and she was fumbling for my zipper.

"Bella," I said in a warning voice. "I've already told you..."

"I don't care," she moaned against my mouth. "Can't I kiss you the way you kissed me?"

There were two sides of me. Bella created the good side. She created the person I had wanted to become my entire life: a nice guy, a gentleman who wouldn't take advantage of a virgin.

The goodness within me was usually drowned out by the evil lingering just below the surface. She was mine...my Bella, the girl I'd longed for since I was a kid. I'd be lying to myself if I said I didn't jack off to images of her every night. Sometimes she was riding my face, sometimes she was bouncing on my cock, and sometimes I was driving into her from behind. There was nothing gentlemanly about the things that ran through my mind on a daily basis.

"Fucking fine," I muttered, scooting off the bed and letting her unbuckle my belt.

I couldn't help but smirk as she stared at the bulge in my jeans. I knew I was a big boy. Hell, I actually felt a little sorry for my girl.

She yanked my jeans below my hips and I kicked them off my legs. Bella sat on her knees with her bottom lip drawn between her teeth. That sight alone caused my dick to twitch in my boxers, and she gasped at the action, causing me to laugh.

"Don't worry, baby," I told her as I reached out and ran my fingers through her silky hair. "He doesn't bite, but he does spit."

Bella scowled at my crude words and I couldn't help but laugh. Ignoring my chuckles, she reached out and tugged at my boxers, slowly pulling them down. My dick sprang free, and she jumped back in alarm.

"I'm...I mean...can you tell me what to do?" she asked, staring up at me solemnly with that damn lip between her teeth yet again. "Can you show me what to do?"

Fuck. Those words made me even harder. I reached down and started stroking myself as she gazed at me in wonder. She was so innocent, and I felt like an evil villain, twisting his mustache, instructing her on how to give me head as I stole her virtue, but it was also a fucking turn on.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked, raising an eyebrow in question.

She nodded solemnly and I almost laughed at the serious expression on her face. I held back the chuckle, creeping closer to the bed as I continued to stroke myself. Bella's big doe eyes gazed up at me. I opened my mouth to tell her the first step when someone started beating on the door.

Mother fucking cockblocked.

**BPOV**

Edward escorted me to a huge bathroom that was almost the size of my bedroom. The mirror over the sink showed a nervous, yet sated girl with big brown eyes and a dirty face.

I couldn't believe I allowed Edward to give me oral sex after I was sweating in Nana's garden all day. He didn't seem to mind. In fact, from the sounds coming from his throat as his tongue brushed against my body, he liked the way I tasted.

If Jasper hadn't banged on the door and yelled for us to hurry up, there was no doubt in my mind that I would have returned the favor. I'd been thinking, no, obsessing over it for the past couple of weeks. Edward couldn't hide the conflict in his eyes as I offered to please him the way he pleased me. But he caved, and he would cave again. It was only a matter of time before the two of us would be together, in every way possible.

Shoving the thoughts of what we'd just done aside, I used the facilities and scrubbed sweat, dirt, and the smell of sex off my body with gardenia-scented soap. Esme was thoughtful enough to tuck the scented soap inside the clothes she handed me. I scrubbed the dirt from my face until my cheeks flamed from the friction. I was embarrassed that it'd been there without my knowledge.

There was dirt still deeply imbedded beneath my nails, but there was little I could do about it at the moment. I dried my body with a thick, fluffy towel, and slipped into Esme's clothes.

Edward told me that he'd meet me downstairs so we wouldn't look so suspicious. I had rolled my eyes, knowing he honestly couldn't care less if his family knew what we'd done in his bedroom.

After tossing my filthy clothes in Edward's laundry hamper, I slipped from his room and froze in my tracks. Standing in the hallway, leaning against the wall, was a girl I'd never seen before in my life.

The western-style wall sconces lining the hallway cast a soft, yellow glow on her long, blonde tresses, giving her the illusion of a halo floating above her head. She was beautiful, and could easily be mistaken for an angel with her clear, smooth skin, deep blue eyes, and pouty lips. The girl was around my age, and was tall and curvy. She was what Emmett would call a 'thick girl,' but carried it fantastically. She wore a pretty, sleeveless, lilac dress that hugged her shapely figure. My eyes darted involuntarily to the thin scars running along one side of her arm. Noticing my stare, she raised her chin minutely and crossed her arms over her chest. The two of us stared warily at one another for a long moment before she finally spoke up.

"If it isn't the infamous Miss Bella Swan," she said as the wariness disappeared and a smile slowly crept over her face. "And to think that I believed you were a figment of Edward's imagination all this time."

"Rose?" I guessed.

Edward had mentioned Rose in conversation. Like with Jasper, he failed to mention her scars or the source of them. All I knew of Rosalie Hale was that she graduated high school the year before, and would head off to college soon to pursue an education in pediatric medicine.

Although I didn't know her or Jasper very well, I was strongly impressed by them. They wore their scars like battle wounds. They could have hid them beneath layers of clothes, but no. They were on full display for anyone to see.

"The one and only," she smirked, pushing herself off the wall and shocking me with a hug.

"I always knew exactly what I'd say to you if Edward brought you home," she muttered into my hair as she embraced me. "I've rehearsed it in my head a million times."

"And what's that?" I asked as she pulled way just far enough to stare solemnly into my eyes.

"I accept you for who you are," she told me with a sickening sweet smile. "But Edward is like a brother to me, and if you hurt him, I'll kill you."

I didn't doubt her words. Rose's hands drifted from my back to my shoulders. She squeezed them slightly to reiterate her point. Her French-tipped nails pressed against my skin, not painfully, but forceful enough to silently communicate she could do some real damage with them if need be. There was a seriousness shining in her blue eyes I immediately recognized. I vaguely wondered if I resembled her when I threatened Alice's male suitors in the past.

"I won't hurt him," I promised. "If I do, you have my full permission to put me in my place."

"Oh, honey," Rose purred, reaching up and patting me softly on my face. "What makes you think I need your permission?"

With that, she raised an eyebrow at my frowning face, laughed at the way I glared at her, placed her arm through mine, and escorted me to the dining room. The girl was strange, but I found myself liking her. She reminded me of Kate in a way. Rose wasn't as crude as Kate, but she was vocal and honest with her thoughts. I had a feeling Rosalie Hale and I would become very good friends.

Supper was a strange affair to say the least. I sat at a large, walnut table on a deep, cushioned chair, gawking at the fancy dinnerware and place settings in front of me.

_I guessed running a factory has huge perks_, I thought sarcastically to myself as I shook my head over the irony of my situation. I'd always hated the drug business that my family involved themselves in, and there I was falling into the same situation by choosing Edward: dirty money, lies, and secrets.

Edward's hand running up the inside of my thigh broke me from my reverie. I pretended I didn't notice his fingers ghosting across my leg as his family chatted to one another.

Cutting a piece of steak, I shoved it in my mouth and watched Esme talk about color schemes in rapt attention. I think she said she was altering the decor in the house, but it was hard keeping up with the conversation with Edward's fingers dawdling up my inner thigh. Edward abruptly grew impatient with my refusal to acknowledge his touch. He cupped his hand almost angrily between my legs, causing me to jump and drop my fork.

"Bella, what's wrong, dear?" Esme asked as she took in my red cheeks and deep gasp of shock.

Edward continued calmly eating with his head down. I opened and closed my mouth several times trying to formulate a response. He never stilled in his actions as he firmly stroked the inseam of my jeans beneath the table. Bold and bad, that boy was.

"I just...get really excited...over decorating," I panted, squirming slightly in my seat as I heard Rose snort from somewhere nearby. "Maybe I can help you?"

Esme beamed and nodded enthusiastically. Jasper snickered from his place at the table, poorly hiding the sound by shoving a forkful of baked potato in his mouth.

Reaching below the table, I pinched Edward's arm as hard as I could, but it didn't faze him a bit. He grinned smugly at me between bites as we finished supper and then dessert, still rubbing away. My nipples pressed painfully against the thin fabric of my shirt. I slouched slightly in my seat, trying to hide them from view. The tingling between my legs increased tenfold throughout supper, and my forehead was beaded in a cold sweat. My body was on fire and I couldn't wait to be alone with Edward. I'd either kiss him or kill him.

"So, Bella, Edward tells me you're eighteen and a senior this year," Carlisle said as Esme collected our dessert plates. "How is it that you haven't graduated?"

"My birthday is in September," I explained. "My father thought it'd be best if I waited an extra year before staring kindergarten. He was worried about me starting too young. My birthday was so close to the cut-off date in August. He didn't want me falling behind the other kids in class."

"That was a wise decision," Carlisle mused thoughtfully, leaning back in his chair. "But then again, your father was always smarter than people gave him credit for."

Edward's hand finally left my body. I stared stunned at Carlisle. All the tingling from Edward's touch turned my brain into a puddle of mush. Had Carlisle complimented my father? Surely I was delusional.

"Maybe y'all can continue your conversation on the veranda?" Esme piped up, shooting Carlisle a small smile.

My stomach clenched in nervousness as I followed Edward outside. The thought of conversing with Carlisle Cullen about...anything, especially my deceased father, made me nauseous.

What Esme referred to as a 'veranda,' I called a 'screened-in porch.' It held the same furniture as the front porch: dark wicker with deep cushions, and resin tables. Tall, glossy, green plants, with leaves the size of baby elephant ears, sat intricately around the porch, tucked in between the various pieces of furniture. Flowers bloomed everywhere, casting their fresh, fragrant scent in the air around us.

The sound of the river nearby reminded me of Edward and I laying on a pier. A huge, round, outdoor bed sheathed in pillowy, white cushions sat nestled in the far corner of the veranda. An image of Edward and I, naked, pressed against one another on that bed set my body on fire once more. Glancing up at him, I was met with a knowing smirk.

"They'll go out of town before summer is over," Edward whispered in my ear as his thumb ran across my bottom lip. "We'll make good use of that bed, that is, if you want to."

Edward smirked at the dumbfounded expression on my face. He dropped himself lazily in a wicker love seat, his infamous crooked grin spread across his face. He pulled me onto his lap, ignoring my protests. I didn't want his family thinking I was some sort of two-bit hussy. Carlisle soon strolled through the doorway and paused, watching as I battled to remove myself from Edward's lap.

"It's fine, Bella," Carlisle spoke up, lighting a cigar and sitting down nearby. "Y'all don't have to act any differently on my account."

Edward's arms tightened around me and he nuzzled my neck. I stopped struggling against him. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy the feeling of his warm body against my slightly flushed one, or the way his warm breath tickled my neck as his nose brushed against my cheek. I was simply embarrassed by his display of affections in front of his uncle, and slightly uncomfortable by how nonchalant he was about it.

"Bella, there's some things we should discuss if you plan to pursue a relationship with my nephew," Carlisle began, puffing away at the cigar. "Things you should know."

"Okay," I mumbled hesitantly, snuggling myself deeply in Edwards arms, and dreading whatever Carlisle had to say.

"First of all, I hope being kept in the dark about certain aspects of our lives doesn't bother you," Carlisle said, staring at me scrupulously with his steely blue eyes. "There will always be a level of distrust between you, Edward, and our family. It has nothing to do with who you are, per say, although I'd be lying if I said the fact that you're a Swan doesn't bother me. It does concern me, and always will."

"If that's not the case, then what is? Why do you distrust me?" I asked.

"Because betrayal is all we've ever known," Carlisle immediately answered. "Cops, lawyers, judges, friends, and even family can never be trusted. You seem like a fairly intelligent girl. I'm sure you've heard the rumors of my family's business. And I'm not talking about the factory we own."

"Yes, sir," I muttered.

"Our side business will never be discussed with you," he continued. "In five, ten, fifteen years, if you're still with Edward, you will continue to be non-the-wiser as far as that aspect of his life is concerned. It's not only because of distrust, Bella. It is also for your own protection. I treat Esme the same way. She is aware of what I do for a living, but knows nothing of the finer details of that side of me. Is that something you can live with?"

I pondered his words carefully, taking a long moment to muse over what he'd said. Edward's body stiffened beneath me as I took my time, weighing in on a life that he desired me to become a part of. I'd done nothing the past few years but frown upon the drug trade. If I chose Edward, I'd be thrusting myself directly in the midst of illegal drug trafficking. Turning my face to one side, I met his probing green eyes and made my decision.

"I've already chosen Edward," I replied with nothing but honest sincerity in my voice. "I understand there's reason for y'all to mistrust me and my family, although it does sting a little knowing Edward will never trust me. But it's not as though he's taking the easy path in life by being with me. My family hates yours. I have no idea how this is going to work, but I'm willing to try."

"Trust has to be earned, Bella," Edward's dark voice whispered in my ear, sending chills down my spine. "Along with trust comes the truth. Are you ready to hear the truth, Bella? Are you ready to hear the truth about your father's murder?"

Edward's cryptic words caused my body to freeze in his arms. My heart picked up speed in double time as I met Carlisle's solemn gaze. I found myself nodding numbly as Carlisle gave a stern nod in reply. He crushed the cigar in an ashtray and stood up, disappearing inside the house. Edward rubbed my arms soothingly as we awaited his return. I knew in the deepest recesses of my heart that whatever Carlisle revealed on that veranda would change me, and everything I'd come to believe about my father, my family, and the Cullens.

When Carlisle returned it was with a picture frame clutched in his hands. He handed it to me and returned to his seat. I took it from him with shaky fingers and stared at the photograph in shock.

It was a photograph of my father, just as I remembered him in the time before his death. He was tall and ruggedly handsome, with happy brown eyes and his signature thick mustache. Standing to his left was a younger Carlisle Cullen, and to his right an unfamiliar male.

The unfamiliar man had chiseled structures: prominent cheekbones, a slight cleft in his chin, sandy brown hair, and starling mossy green eyes. I knew immediately, without ever meeting him, the stranger in the photograph was Edward's father. The men stared at the photographer with matching serious expressions on their faces. The background of the photo was a new kind of familiar. Carlisle's living room fireplace stood in the backdrop of the photograph.

"What is this?" I whispered. "I...I don't understand."

"Your father, my brother, Eddie, and I were in the midst of negotiations between our families," Carlisle told me as I glanced up in shock. "Charlie and Aro had some sort of falling-out with one another. Eddie knew the details, but took them to his grave before I could learn the truth about why Charlie turned against Aro.

"That photo was taken two days before my brother was murdered. The night he died was the night we were to finalize our negotiations. Eddie went to meet Charlie, but never returned. I was unable to attend the meeting and my brother died. If only I'd been there...maybe I could have saved him. I've lived with the guilt of that all these years."

"Where were you?" I asked, staring back down at the photo. "When your brother was murdered?"

"Mobile, Alabama," Carlisle sighed. "Meeting with...an associate of mine. An important shipment arrived that I had to be present for. Normally I don't leave a paper trail when I'm out of town on business, but by the grace of God, I used a credit card at a gas station in Gulfport. The store also had me on camera. I'm sure my brother's death would have been pinned on me by Billy Black. He was supposedly on patrol that night, making his rounds on the outskirts of town. He claimed he heard a gunshot and went to check things out. That's when he found my brother's body. I'm sure I narrowly escaped death myself that night. Billy and your uncles have been after me for years."

"So you believe my father was involved as well?" I questioned in a disgusted voice as I placed the photo on the table in front of me. "You think he was faking the negotiations to lure the two of you to that field?"

"No, I don't believe your father was involved," Carlisle answered, staring at my face grimly. "I do believe that your Uncle Aro and Billy Black were involved in the death of my brother. I think Aro found out about our secret negotiations and took matters into his own hands."

The truth weighed heavily on my heart as Carlisle silently appraised me, contemplating the guilty expression on my face. Edward shifted beneath me, taking my small hands in his large ones. There was a colossal part of me that speculated it was all a trap: inviting me to dine with them, showing me nothing but acceptance, Edward's undying devotion to me since the age of twelve. If it was a trick, I was falling for it. Guilt had weighed me down for years, making me bitter and weary.

"If I knew the truth about your brother's murder, would you tell me the truth about my father's?" I asked, studying his passive face.

Edward's slightly calloused hands stilled against my arms. I heard his breathing and the steady strum of his heart against my back pick up speed. He may never trust me enough to divulge certain aspects of his life, but that didn't mean I couldn't try to earn his trust in other ways.

"My sources say that Aro murdered your father," Carlisle said in a low voice, not waiting on me to confess his brother's murder before confessing my father's. "I have no evidence of this. It's just hearsay, really. I wasn't involved, Bella. In fact, the night of your father's murder, I was being held in a Louisiana jail for questioning in the disappearance of a man. Now, that man I _did_ murder, but that's a body that'll never be found. The alligators in Louisiana swamps rarely leave any evidence."

Carlisle's assumption that Aro was involved in my father's murder should have shocked me. Aro was my flesh and blood, after all. I'd witnessed Aro's evilness first-hand. Nothing Aro did surprised me anymore, even if it involved killing his own brother.

Carlisle's own murder confession, however, sent shivers throughout my body, and goosebumps to cover my arms. He professed that he trusted no one, but he gave me that tidbit of information to prove something. Whether it was to prove how dangerous he really was, or to bribe me into confessing who his brother's murderer was, I'd never know. Whatever it was, it worked.

"Aro told me, in confidence at my father's funeral, that he murdered Edward's father," I whispered. "That's all I have...no evidence. I just have the words of an evil man who confided in his twelve-year old niece."

"This doesn't surprise me," Carlisle whispered, shooting Edward a look of acknowledgement. "Edward and I have believed Aro to be the perpetrator in Eddie's death since the beginning. It's a shame you have no other evidence...no other way to prove he is the killer."

"There must be a way to prove it was Aro who killed our fathers," Edward muttered bitterly. "How can we prove it, Carlisle?"

Carlisle looked thoughtful for a moment as he and Edward stared silently at one another. A soundless communication seemed to develop between the two men. I felt Edward nod his head, and as the action caused my hair to brush delicately across my face.

"We need allies," Carlisle finally spoke as his eyes darted from Edward's to mine. "How do you feel about that, Bella? Would you like to join forces with us? Can you gather other allies in your family? Is there any part of Charlie Swan lingering inside you?"

Carlisle was baiting me again, using my father's own betrayal of his family to bribe me, and again, it worked.

I thought of Alice, Kate, Em, and Benjamin. The boys would be harder to convince, but Kate and Alice's attraction to the Cullen boys might work in my favor. I made another resolution, then and there. It was a decision which would, yet again, change the course of my life forever.

"Yes," I said in a stronger, braver voice than I really felt as Edward gently kissed my temple. "I think I know exactly how to gain allies."

Carlisle smiled a slow, twisted smile as he puffed on the cigar. Smoke billowed around his head, making him look like a handsome, yet evil, angel.

"Good girl," he purred as the grin grew wider and smoke rolled from his lips.

Edward dropped me off just before midnight. He stopped at the end of the driveway, right where he'd picked me up earlier that night.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and allowed him to pull me flush against his body. The hard planes of his chest and abdomen pressed against the softness of mine. I moaned into his mouth as our tongues met. Some small part of me screamed that I was kissing the devil, and eventually he'd drag me to hell.

It was too late to back out. A plan had already been hatched as we traveled from Birchwood back to Mayhaw, and it wouldn't be long before it was set into motion.

* * *

AliCat0623 is the poor soul who weeds her way through my long-ass chapters and corrects my mistakes. Bless her heart...

This chapter is dedicated to Rochelle Allison. Only she knows why ;) Go check out her fics, if you haven't already. She's amazing ;)

I stepped out of my comfort zone and submitted an entry in the 'Taste of the Forbidden II' contest. Go by there, read the entries, and vote for your fave! I can't tell you which one is mine, but it'd be fun to hear your guesses. PM your guess and I'll let you know which one was mine AFTER the contest is over.

So, what did y'all think about the chapter? Review and let me know!


	12. Chapter 12: Tangled Web

_Previously, in Chapter Eleven..._

_Edward dropped me off just before midnight. He stopped at the end of the driveway, right where he'd picked me up earlier that night._

_I wrapped my arms around his neck and allowed him to pull me flush against his body. The hard planes of his chest and abdomen pressed against the softness of mine. I moaned into his mouth as our tongues met. Some small part of me screamed that I was kissing the devil, and eventually he'd drag me to hell._

_It was too late to back out. A plan had already been hatched as we traveled from Birchwood back to Mayhaw, and it wouldn't be long before it was set into motion._

* * *

_Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake._

_~Napoleon Bonaparte~_

**Chapter Twelve: Tangled Web**

The days following Carlisle's speculation of the supposed identity of my father's true killer were some of the worst few days of my life.

I was jittery and nervous as I stewed over all the things I'd learned from Carlisle. There was so much information to process. My father possibly died by the hands of my uncle, my own flesh and blood.

I had yet to approach Alice and Kate. As evil as Aro was, I was doubtful that Alice and Kate would immediately accept the accusation of our uncle from our family's archenemy. Sometimes stubborn pride overshadowed good old common sense. We'd all been taught to not trust the Cullen clan. To deny something, anything, ingrained in your brain since birth is never easy, no matter what the situation was. That was especially true when it was your own family feeding you false ideas and information.

Memories of my father and Aro hunting and fishing together looped through my brain. There never was a hint of discord among the two of them. Had Aro found out about my father's secret alliance with the Cullens? Why did my father form an alliance with the Cullens to begin with? Did Aro murder him because of the alliance, or for some other reason?

The questions repeated in my mind constantly, and I'd barely gotten a wink of sleep since leaving Edward's house.

Then there were the nightmares, which didn't help...at first. They didn't help until I came to understand they would ultimately lead me to the truth.

My nights were spent consumed with restlessness. The nightmares invaded my mind the instant sleep overcame me, crawling through my brain like spiders in their tangled webs.

There were two nightmares. The first nightmare was the most disturbing.

In the first nightmare, my father's deep brown eyes stared at me through a dark, swirling fog. His eyes were full of hurt, sadness, and betrayal. In the midst of the fog he'd stand in the middle of a field, basked in the glow of the moonlight.

In the distance Aro lurked towards him, creeping through the backwoods surrounding the field. There was a silent argument between my father and uncle, right before Aro pulled out a black pistol. Aro's face was twisted in a wicked smile as my father gazed at him. I saw the recognition on my father's face. It was a look that said so much. Charlie Swan knew it was the end of his life, but he didn't accept it.

As Aro drew the pistol, my father lunged at him in one last ditch effort to save himself. The two men would scuffle, wrestling for the gun. A shot rang out and everything grew silently still in the muggy night air.

My father slumped to the ground, screaming my name in a gurgling voice as blood bubbled from his mouth, pouring over his pale lips.

The dream ended the same way each night. Aro would turn to face me in the dream, stalking towards me with a menacing grin. I'd wake up gasping for air, covered in nothing but a cold sweat with my sheets pasted to my clammy skin.

The second nightmare was the most revealing.

In that nightmare I padded through a dense forest, sweating and swearing as I pushed my father's old, red, rusted wheelbarrow through the woods. The wooden handles were cracked and split from old age and years of overwhelming heat. They dug painfully into my hands as I shoved the wheelbarrow unsteadily through the woods. The wheelbarrow teetered awkwardly on one wheel over the exposed tree roots and sticks. A heavy safe rested inside the rusted metal. The weight of that safe made the trip that much more of a struggle.

An old, sagging barb-wired fence loomed in the distance. A pink ribbon clung to it, winding and fluttering in the wind. A wide oak tree with undisturbed soil at its trunk stood proudly nearby.

To the right of the tree stood Nana Swan with her eyes full of worry. As I approached her, she slowly faded into nothing. The only sound ringing through the forest was her name as I called out for her in fear and confusion.

When I first dreamed of Nana and the safe, I didn't think much of it. My subconscious was playing tricks on me, or so I thought. But the nightmare continued haunting me relentlessly, night after night.

Then the same old questions returned. What was in that safe? Why was Nana so adamant for me to hide it and reveal its whereabouts to no one?

A new question arose as well. Was there something in Nana's safe that would point out the true identify of my father's killer?

I shook it off, at first. It was highly doubtful that a mother would allow a man to roam free who murdered her own son.

Then I tried to put myself in Nana's shoes. What if I had a child who murdered another child? What if I were the mother of a cold-blooded monster? Would I protect the sins of my child save myself from losing him, just as I'd lost his brother? Would I take that drastic step to prevent losing my child to a lifetime in prison?

Nana's words echoed in my head. 'Strength is nothing without courage,' she'd said.

At the time I thought she was referring to her long-lost love. Now I wasn't so sure. There was only one way to answer my unspoken questions. I needed to speak to my grandmother. Something told me that she'd be tight-lipped if I directly questioned her about Aro murdering my father. I decided I'd ask for the combination to that buried safe first...but would Nana give me the combination? When I voiced those questions to Edward on the phone, hidden in my room late at night, his response was simple.

"There's only one way to find out," he said. "Ask her. If the two of you are as close as I think you are, you'll be able to tell if she's lying or not."

It was a Friday evening in late June. The heat was record-breaking, reaching well over one-hundred degrees most days. Kate, Alice, and Nana were as ill as hornets because of the uncomfortable temperatures. Alice and Kate planned a trip for the three of us to Baxton Lake the next day, which worked in favor with mine and Edward's plan to force our families together.

As evening finally arrived, I hemmed Nana in a corner to question her. Literally. Nana was in her office pilfering through her desk when I quietly shut the door behind me.

Glancing up, she noticed the weary, yet determined look on my face. Shoving her small glasses up her tiny nose, she began backing away from the desk, throwing her hands up defensively as I stomped towards her. I hadn't slept well in days and I was not only physically, but mentally exhausted.

"What's in the safe, Nana?" I demanded as her back hit the wall behind her.

Nana's eyes darted around for a moment. She began stuttering incoherently as her face slowly turned red in frustration. Then she became flustered and angry as I stood silently in front of her. My grandmother hated being backed into a corner, physically and metaphorically.

"I don't want to talk about it!" she snapped, huffing as she pushed her way around me. "All I asked you to do is hide it until I'm dead and gone. That hasn't happened just yet, but if you're lucky, it won't be much longer!"

"Quit throwing a pity party, trying to make me feel sorry for you so I'll drop the subject!" I hissed.

Nana pretended to ignore me. My face flamed as she calmly stacked some papers on her desk. My temper got the best of me and I finally snapped.

"Tell me, Nana," I growled. "Tell me, does that safe have anything to do with the fact that Uncle Aro killed my daddy?"

Nana paused for a moment. The papers in her hands shook as her fingers trembled. Her blue eyes widened and she paled a bit. The slightly sagging flesh of her neck bobbed as she swallowed.

Then she brushed it away, as though it was nothing. She returned to her task of paper stacking. Her red painted lips thinned into a bitter line as she shoved the papers into a desk drawer and started for the office door, still ignoring me.

"Nana!" I grunted between clenched teeth.

I followed her as far as the back door. She practically slammed it in my face as she left the building. Fighting against my anger, I chose to stay inside and let her be. The silence, fresh tears in her eyes, and the expression on her face told me all I needed to know. There was something about my father's murder in that safe, and I prayed it was cold, hard evidence to prove Aro's guilt once and for all.

I needed to unearth the safe, but once it was above ground I'd need help getting into it. I prayed Edward would hold some sort of solution to breaking into the safe. Edward was the only thing holding me together those few days; Edward and our plan.

The plan Edward and I devised was broken into stages. The first stage was one Edward surprisingly suggested. It was brutal honesty. I planned on telling Alice and Kate all the things I learned from Carlisle Cullen. I also planned on telling them about Nana and that damned old safe.

The second part of the plan involved forcing Jasper, Alice, Kate, and Garrett together with the two of us as mediators of sorts. Edward was hopeful that their attractions to one another would eventually fuse us all into one solid machine, working together to destroy the lifelong battle between our two families.

After speaking to Edward on the phone, the two of us decided it'd be best to throw Alice, Jasper, Kate, and Garrett together once the girls were in better spirits. Our lake trip would be the perfect opportunity. They'd undoubtedly be high and mellow. They always smoked out before going...well, anywhere, really.

"I'm hotter than a two-dollar whore on the Fourth of July," Kate muttered the next day as we packed my Jeep for our trip to the beach.

"Didn't you have sex with Riley Biers in the bed of his pickup truck at the town's Fourth of July party last year?" I asked Kate in an innocent voice, laughing as she glared at me.

Kate's silky blonde hair was pulled up at the top of her head in a sexy-messy knot, just as Alice's and mine were. We all donned the same large black shades and zero makeup, besides the water-proof mascara we wore. It was the only time I went out in public without my face painted, and I would be lying if I said I didn't feel a bit naked without it.

"Once you jump in the water, you won't be so hot," Alice chirped, interrupting a possible snarky reply from my cousin to yours truly.

Kate grunted in response as she shoved a large cooler in the back of the Jeep. The back of the Jeep was stuffed to the gills with towels, beach bags, and of course Alice's bright pink beach umbrella, which had faded a bit over time.

Kate and Alice gave me suspicious glances as I barely smoked before we left. I, once again, blamed it on being a driver and they seemed to buy it. The truth was, I didn't want to be wasted when I told them about Aro murdering my father.

We hit the road wearing our swimsuits, shorts, and tank tops. We sang along to the music as it battled against the sound of the wind. I groaned as Alice took control of the radio.

"I'm different, yeah I'm different!" Alice belted as she grinned at me.

"We know, Alice," Kate hollered over the sound of the music and whipping wind blowing through the Jeep. "We know."

I'd left the top off the Jeep as usual. The strong current of air pulled strands of hair from my messy knot.

Kate bitched about how slow I was driving, but the stretch of highway rolling over the small hills was a notorious place for the highway patrol to gather. They'd hide behind the low-sitting, peeling billboards nestled in the crevices of the foothills. If they weren't there, you could find them hiding near the end of dusty country roads, anxiously awaiting anyone speeding five or more miles per hour over the speed limit. Don't ask me why five was the magic number; it was just a local well-known fact.

Alice threw her hands in the air, hollering out to the song, "I'm so high...addict. I'm so high like a addict!"

That's when I saw blue lights flashing in the rear view mirror. A muttered curse escaped my lips as I glanced down at the speedometer; I wasn't even a mile over the speed limit. What the hell?

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Kate swore, fumbling around for the seatbelt she never wore.

Alice was pale as a ghost, making Casper look tan in comparison. Then she followed Kate's example, quickly snapping her seat belt in place around her tiny waist.

Slowing down, I gently guided the Jeep to the shoulder of the road. My heart churned erratically in my chest. I wasn't worried about speeding, because I wasn't speeding. My inspection sticker and tag were both in date. I wasn't driving erratically. I didn't fail to use a turn signal. None of that concerned me.

What did concern me was my slightly dilated pupils, hidden behind my shades, and the gram of potent weed shoved in Alice's bikini top.

"What the hell did we do?" Kate asked, suddenly paranoid, with her lips barely moving as I watched the cop exit his vehicle.

"I have a feeling this has nothing to do with my driving," I muttered as the cop loomed closer in view through the review mirror.

I turned my head as Jacob Black appeared beside me. He didn't look much different than he did the last time I saw him, the night at the train station. Jacob was tall and beefy, with thick bands of muscle bulging against his dark uniform. His hair was cropped short and as black as the devil's heart. Jacob's dark eyes were hidden beneath a pair of reflective shades.

"Well, if it isn't the Swan girls," he purred, leaning his thick arms across my window.

"Is there a reason you pulled us over?" I asked, my voice full of irritation, nervousness, and anger. "You're not a highway patrol. You're a city cop! Do you have jurisdiction to stop vehicles on a state highway?"

"Why, Bella! I'm hurt!" Jacob exclaimed, straightening up and pressing his hand dramatically over his heart. "Is that how you greet an old friend you haven't seen in years?"

My eyes narrowed on him as he grinned. The dimples on his cheeks deepened, momentarily reminding me of Emmett. I'd think him a handsome guy if I wasn't so wary of him. Jacob's head tilted toward Kate who sat deaf and dumb in the backseat trying not to draw attention to herself, which only drew attention to herself.

"Why so quiet, Kate?" Jacob inquired with a smirk. "You holding or something?"

"What if I was?" she huffed. "Are you gonna do something about it? You can't search me for no reason!"

"Actually, I can," he smirked. "If the vehicle has evidence of something illegal. I'm sure I wouldn't have to look very hard to find a seed here or there. I also have plenty of jurisdiction in this area. Technically you're still in city limits."

"But," he continued, pulling his glasses from his face and placing them on top of his head as he gazed from Kate to me. "If I wanted to frisk someone, it wouldn't be you, Kate."

I could feel Kate's animosity for Jacob all the way through my backseat. It rolled off her in heated, wretched waves.

Jacob's eyes gazed down at mine, which were still hidden behind my shades. He held a snarky grin on his face, which would look sexy on Edward, but just looked creepy on Jacob. I frowned at his failed sexy smirk and at his statement. The insinuation was clear as day.

"What's the deal, Jacob?" I asked, growing tired of his games. "Are you playing good cop or bad cop? I don't know who you are anymore. I never knew who you were to begin with."

What I spoke was the truth. Our fathers had once been friends, but he was older than me, and I knew little about Jacob other than the basics.

Jacob Black graduated before I made it to high school. He graduated as a football legend, taking the school to state championship all four years, and leading them to victory three of those years. The girls loved him. He was handsome and popular. He could be charming to some, I suppose, but he was just plain creepy to me.

Jacob raised his eyebrows at my exasperated tone and took a step back.

"Since you're playing tough girl, I think I'll play bad cop," he told me with a sinister smile. "Step out of the vehicle, Bella."

My heart jumped in my throat as I clutched the steering wheel beneath my fingers. Alice gasped beside me and I heard Kate let out a low curse.

"No," I muttered. "I'm not leaving this vehicle. I've done nothing wrong!"

Jacob didn't respond. He let out a low chuckle and reached for the door handle as my heart sped up. I immediately grabbed the door, trying to hold it shut, but I was no match for his strength. The door flew open as my fingers left the hot door. Cars whipped by us in the far lane. The passengers would stare out the window as they passed by, but no one stopped. No one had reason to believe the man in the policeman's uniform was nothing but a crooked cop, just like his father.

Jacob grabbed my arm with his meaty hand, jerking me roughly from the Jeep. My flip-flops fell off as he dragged me across the scorching hot pavement and onto the white gravel on the side of the road. My feet protested from the heat and jagged edges of the rocks.

"You fucking asshole!" I hollered as he shoved me against the hood of the Jeep.

I paid little attention to the burning of my skin against the flaming hood beneath the sweltering sun as Jacob shoved me in my back. I landed against the vehicle, pressed chest down. My sister and cousin scrambled to get out of the Jeep, but I hollered at them to stop. They froze, unsure of what to do as I pleaded with them to remain in the car. If Jacob wanted to play dirty cop he could do it without my family's involvement.

"I'm calling Aro!" Kate yelled, standing in the Jeep and flinging her shades in the seat beside her. "I'm telling him what you're doing!"

"Go ahead," Jacob laughed, running his fingers against the pockets of my shorts, causing me to shudder. "Maybe I'll tell him something too."

"Would you like that, Bella?" he whispered in a voice too low for the others to hear. "Would you like for Aro to find out how you've been sneaking around with Edward Cullen?"

I stiffened beneath his fingers as his fingertips brushed against the sliver of exposed skin above my shorts. My gaze darted to the girls who glared at my aggressor. Somehow Jacob knew I was seeing Edward. If Aro found out about me and Edward our entire plan would fall apart. It'd fall apart because we'd both be dead, and our father's killer would remain as free as the wind.

"I don't know what you're talking about," l muttered. "But you better get your dick-beaters off me!"

"Fuck this shit!" Kate suddenly screamed, jumping from her seat in the back of the vehicle.

Kate landed swiftly on her feet, crouching slightly, looking like a lithe panther ready to attack. Jacob removed one hand from my body. He smoothly removed the gun hanging from the holster resting against his hip. Kate made one step and stopped as Jacob gracefully raised the gun, pointing it directly at her face.

"Make one move and I'll shoot you," he said in a calm, friendly voice. "I've got enough coke in my back pocket to send you to prison for a long time. They'll believe a cop's story before they believe some coke whore."

Kate glared at him, narrowing her eyes as she stood as still as a statue. Jacob snickered, leaning in to whisper in my ear.

"I've been watching you for a while now, Bella," Jacob whispered in a teasing voice, still aiming the gun at my cousin with a steady hand. "I've got eyes and ears all over this town. You can deny it all you want, but I know you're seeing Edward Cullen."

"What do you want, Jacob?" I asked as my eyes darted between the gun and Kate's face. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because, Bella," he lowly sneered. "That's how things work around here. I'll keep your secret, but my silence comes with a price. I'll let you know when I'm ready to collect."

Jacob shoved himself away, forcing my belly painfully against the front of the Jeep. It knocked the wind out of me for a second. I gasped in a deep, shaky breath. I quickly turned around, removing my burning skin from the Jeep as Jacob strolled casually away. Facing him I felt a bit less defenseless.

Jacob sauntered away, casually shoving his gun back in place and grinning at Kate as he passed. One broad shoulder bumped her thin one. Kate stumbled slightly from the force of the blow. Jacob slid his glasses from his head down over his nose and chuckled as Kate loudly cursed his retreating figure.

Jacob slid into the car made a U-turn in the middle of the damn highway, tossing us a grin and a cocky wave of his hand as he eased down the road. We all stood, rooted in place, until his taillights disappeared over a hill.

"What the fuck!" Alice yelled in a voice so loud, so shrill that Kate and I jumped in shock. "What did he say to you, Bella? What's going on?"

"Just...get in the Jeep," I grumbled, retreating my lost flip-flops and shoving my feet into them. "I'll tell you on our way to the beach."

"On our way to the beach?" Kate exclaimed, throwing her hands up in exasperation, staring at me as though I'd grown a second head. "We're not going to the beach! Not after what just happened! Jacob Black just manhandled you and pointed a gun at my face, Bella! You think we're gonna carry on like that shit didn't just go down?"

"Yes!" I snapped, jumping in the Jeep and slamming the small door. "That's exactly what we're gonna do. Get your tail in here and I'll explain everything, okay?"

Kate and Alice exchanged anxious glances. Kate grumbled and complained, but eventually she hopped into the backseat with a scowl on her face. Alice nervously gnawed on an acrylic nail as she sat beside me. She was notorious for ruining her nails when she was nervous.

I pulled the Jeep from the shoulder of the road and onto the highway. The three of us were silent. I should have called Edward once Jacob was safely away from my Jeep. I should have called him and told him everything that happened, but I was numb. My body was numb and thoughtless...black and void. There wasn't a time in my life that I felt so utterly violated, dirty, and shamed.

I must have been in some state of shock. The depth of what happened didn't sink in for about ten more miles. Then it hit me; it hit me like a hurricane, leaving nothing but nausea, rage, and fear in its wake. Kate noticed my panicked breaths as my chest heaved, and my trembling fingers on the steering wheel. She demanded I pull over, and for once I agreed with something she suggested.

"Alice, backseat," Kate barked.

"And you," she said, pointing a stern finger at my face. "Get in the passenger seat. I'm driving. You're gonna start talking."

I gave Kate a shaky nod of my head. Alice slid in the backseat as I nervously took her place. Kate jerked the Jeep from the side of the road, slinging gravel along the way.

"Start talking," Kate demanded as the hill we climbed took a sudden dip, carrying my stomach along with it.

"Okay, okay," I muttered, taking a deep breath and slowly trudging through the events of the past few weeks.

I told them everything. I explained how I never kept my promise to stay far away from Edward. I revealed my night at the Cullen household, the family dinner, and Carlisle's accusation of my father's murderer. Once I started talking I couldn't seem to quit. I mentioned Jasper and Rose's mysterious scars, the pleasantness of Esme's voice, Edward's college acceptance letters. I even told them how nervous I was as I, very nearly, did the most intimate act with a boy I was convinced I was made for. The only thing I held back was the fact that Edward and the boys were waiting on us somewhere at that blasted lake. I babbled away for the next several miles, until Kate finally interrupted me.

"You've never given a blow job?" she asked with an incredulous stare. "How is that even possible?"

"Kate!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands up in frustration as she hit the turn signal. "I just told you that Uncle Aro more than likely murdered your Uncle Charlie, and all you have to say is, 'You've never given a blow job?' You really have a one-track mind."

"What do you expect from me, Bella? Shock and awe?" she scowled, pulling onto an old asphalt road, passing a wooden sign announcing, in faded yellow paint, that the lake lay two miles ahead. "We all know Uncle Aro is a psychopath. So, excuse me if the fact that your lack of oral skills surprise me more than finding out our murderous uncle is, well, a murderer."

Kate was right, I supposed. Rumors of Aro's involvement in disappearances and homicides in the South drifted in and out of the mouths of gossiping Southerners like dry, cracked leaves fluttering in the wind.

Alice was strangely quiet after my confession. I turned in my seat just as we pulled on the off-road leading to the lake. Alice held a blank expression, from what little I could tell behind the large sunshades perched upon her teeny nose. I snapped my fingers and called her name a couple of times, but she never flinched. She sat as still and beautiful as a limestone ledge.

Snatching the shades from her face, I gasped at her large, dilated pupils. They were so huge they made her eyes look like two big, black marbles. Kate stopped the Jeep as I gazed at my sister in concern. I heard the sound of an elderly woman's voice echo from inside the small, wooden building near the entrance to the lake.

Momentarily distracted by her voice, I dug six crumpled, slightly sweaty bucks from the pocket of my shorts and handed it to Kate, who threw in her money as well. The lady handed us our receipt to enter the public lake. A small piece of clear tape clung to the receipt, and Kate stuck it to the inside of the windshield. The blue-haired lady grinned as we drove away. Her dentures slid around in her mouth slightly at the action. Turning back to Alice as we veered away from the building, I noticed she still hadn't moved.

"Alice...what is wrong with you?" I hissed, clasping her shoulder and giving her a good shake.

Alice's head bobbed for a moment before those black eyes turned to mine. The blankness slowly melted away and was replaced with a huge, goofy grin.

"Jiggly boo?" she squeaked, blinking her eyes rapidly. "Smoofy poo-poo?"

"Oh, sweet baby Jesus!" Kate huffed as I frowned and stared at my sister in confusion. "Check her bikini top, Bella. What you wanna bet that bitch ate that whole bag of weed?"

"Alice!" I gasped, shamelessly feeling my sister up, searching for the baggie full of dank. "You didn't!"

I patted her down but felt nothing. Alice giggled as my fingers probed her breasts. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she laughed. The road dipped downhill and Alice squealed, full of mirth and childlike wonder as we pulled into the parking lot. The smell of sand, lake water, fish, sunscreen, smuggled beer, and youthful bliss hung thick in the air, but I ignored it. I was transfixed on the few tiny pieces of green stuck between my sister's teeth as she beamed wistfully at me.

"She's fine," Kate said, waving her small hand at Alice in a dismissive manner. "You can't kill that girl."

"Hoopy melf?" Alice asked Kate with a suddenly stern face.

"Shut up, Alice, and get out of the Jeep," Kate muttered, cutting the ignition.

Alice nodded, dug around in her ear with her chipped nail for a moment, retrieved her sunglasses, and shoved them upside down on her face. She wobbled as she stood, and before I could stand to help her, she tumbled backwards. Alice landed in a heap on the backseat giggling profusely.

"Um, yeah. I think a trip to the hospital is in order," I whispered to Kate.

"So she can attack the staff? I think not. Besides," she continued. "She didn't eat enough to harm her. Trust me. I'm a weed expert."

Kate was right. She could probably be a biologist, or a pharmacist perhaps, with all her knowledge of drugs and chemicals. I found science enthralling, especially when it involved the moon and stars, but I got lost in the mechanics of it all sometimes.

Kate pulled two bottles of water from the small, red cooler on the back of the Jeep. She forced Alice to slowly drink them both before we headed out to the beach.

We patiently waited for Alice to come to her senses a bit before Kate and I gathered the cooler, beach bags, and towels. Alice stumbled behind us as we trekked across the hot asphalt with our flip-flops slapping the back of our feet.

Baxton Lake was actually a reservoir that ran off the Tenn-Tom River. It was twelve miles long with a man-made beach that curved around a section of the lake. It was a popular hang-out for anyone within a good fifty miles of the lake, well-known through the generations as the place to go if you craved the need to meet new, unfamiliar people from the many surrounding towns.

Fond childhood memories struck me as we passed through the small park area with its winding, red slides, and bright yellow swings and see-saws. There was still a large, wooden platform with its outdoor shower head near the white stretch of sand. Pavilions were scattered about the grassy park area, bursting with crowds of laughing families grilling hot dogs in the rustic, metal grills sticking out of the hard ground. The smell of birthday cake and burning candles lingered in the air, along with the happy squeal of giggling, clapping children.

We kicked our flip-flops off as we stepped from the sidewalk and onto the sand, and heading to our regular spot. I smiled at the children darting across the sand, despite the fact that Jacob put a damper on my day. A little boy around eight-years old waded knee-deep in the water with a small fish flopping between his two fingers. He struggled through the water with a grin spread across his freckled face as he chased a horrified, pig-tailed girl of around the same age. The girl shrieked in a horrified shrill, squirming away from the slippery fish gripped between his fingers.

Pontoons drifted in the distance, roped off from the beach area with long, fluorescent plastic pipes that bobbed in the water several yards from the beach. I spotted a jet boat as well, pulling an inner-tube with a screaming girl. The boat purposely swung to the side, casting the girl in its wake and effectively throwing her through the air. Her bright yellow life jacket disappeared for a moment, as I held my breath. I sighed in relief as she reappeared, bobbing in the dark water. The girl waved her arm, signaling the boat.

Kate and I spread out three beach towels as Alice teetered on her feet. Alice attempted to yank her tank top over her head, but somehow got her arms tangled in the shirt. It became wrapped around her face with her arms hanging out precariously above her head.

Panicking, probably more from the amount of weed coursing through her system than the fear of being trapped in her shirt, Alice began to scream and stumbled blindly. She toppled over in the sand and I let out a massive sigh. Kate doubled over, cackling as Alice flailed around, coating her body in a thin dusting of white sand as she wrestled the shirt.

"Alice!" I snapped. "Stop acting so stupid! People are staring!"

I fought her like a wildcat, yanking the tank from her tiny body. One of her tiny boobs was partially exposed, and Kate snorted loudly as I helped Alice adjust it in her top.

"I thought I's gonna die," she drawled lethargically, staring up at me gravely from the sand. "I was lost in a sea of darkness."

"You're always lost in a sea of darkness," Kate snickered, shoving Alice's umbrella deep in the sand near the end of Alice's Hello Kitty beach towel.

Why my sister was obsessed with Hello Kitty at her age was beyond me.

"Alice, get in the shade and drink some more water," I directed, reaching down and helping her to her feet.

Alice waved me away and crawled across the sand on her hands and knees. When she made it to the towel she collapsed, landing on her side beneath the shade of the umbrella.

"Did Uncle Aro really kill Daddy?" I heard her mutter miserably.

"I think so, Sissy," I told her in a calm, soothing voice as I tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm not sure, but I think so. We're going to find out, okay? I promise."

Alice nodded, but said nothing. I dug around in her beach bag until I found the spray-on sunscreen. I sprayed what little of her exposed skin I could reach with the bottle, then demanded she roll over. She groggily complied and I sprayed the rest of her body as Kate shook her head in amusement.

"Always looking out for little sis, huh?" Kate asked, tossing her tank and shorts in her beach bag and revealing her white bikini.

I didn't respond as I sprayed myself with sunscreen and scanned the beach for any sign of Edward. Kate coated herself in baby oil and stretched out on her towel, basking in the sun. The minutes slowly crawled by and I grew more and more anxious.

In the distance, near the far end of the beach just off the shore, sat a large area set up for a volleyball game. I watched the game absently for a moment, until the familiar frame of a lanky guy loomed into view. I probably would have recognized him sooner, but I'd never seen him shirtless, wearing nothing but yellow board shorts.

The boy wasn't Edward, but the sight of him still put a smile on my face. He was handsome with an unruly smile. A tattoo ran the length of his inner right forearm. As the boy grew closer, he slowed his pace. Kate yawned and flopped on her belly, loudly asking me to rub oil on her back.

The auburn-haired boy pressed his finger softly against his grinning lips, pointed to the oil and pointed to himself. I nodded enthusiastically, immediately reading into his silent request.

Handing him the bottle, I watched in mischievous glee as he silently knelt beside my cousin. Kate's arms were folded across one another and her chin rested against them.

After awkwardly fumbling with the top, the boy carefully drizzled the oil along my cousin's back before recapping the bottle. Shooting me one last wicked grin, he languidly began massaging the oil along her back.

"Hot damn, girl," Kate muttered with a frown. "Your hands are rough! Start taking care of your hands, Bella! When you finally get the balls to grab Edward's dick, I hope you don't use those cheese-graters to do it with."

The boy quietly snickered, ducking his head at Kate's words before glancing up and giving me a knowing smirk. Frowning, I rolled my eyes and stuck my tongue out him like the two-year old I was.

Once he composed himself, he ran his hands lower down her back, lightly dipping his thumbs beneath the edge of her bikini bottoms. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing as I watched Kate's body stiffen.

"Uh, Bella? What are you doing?" Kate stuttered as his thumbs drifted a little further south beneath the bikini bottoms.

"What's wrong, Kate? You never heard of keeping it in the family?" I asked, all low, husky, and breathy as I struggled keep the laughter out of my voice. "You know what they say, 'closer kin, deeper in.'"

"The fuck, Bella!" Kate hollered, suddenly jerking over to stare at me.

When she saw me sitting there with my hand smothering my laughter, my eyes dancing merrily at Garrett, she turned even further on her side. Garrett grinned back at her instantly furious face, holding his oily hands up in surrender.

"You son of a..." she muttered, pushing herself up off the towel. "How many times do I have to tell you to leave me alone! And stop trying to friend me on Facebook! I'm not your damn friend! And who is that girl standing beside you in your profile picture, anyway? Looks like some random party skank to me!"

Garrett's laughter died away at her words. His eyes narrowed evenly on Kate's as the two of them both clambered menacingly to their feet.

"That's my sister!" he growled, shocking me with the anger evident in his voice. "You can insult me all you want, but don't you ever talk about my sister!"

A low giggle sounded beside me and I glanced to my right at Alice, who'd suddenly awoken from her drug-induced trance. She began giggling hysterically in a soft, quiet kind of way as Kate glowered and scolded her for being rude. Kate glanced back at Garrett, looking a bit remorseful, an odd emotion for Kate to display.

"Fuck. I'm sorry, okay!" Kate snapped, somehow sounding angry yet regretful at the same time. "I didn't know it was your sister. Like I said, I'm sorry."

Garrett studied her face for a long moment before giving her a slow, lazy smile. Kate's brow wrinkled in confusion as his lips eventually turned up into a wide, toothy grin.

"I was just messin' with you," he drawled, stepping up to Kate and placing his hands delicately on her hips. "I don't even have a sister."

"Well, who was the girl standing beside you in the picture?" Kate asked, trying unsuccessfully to shove him away with her hands lingering a bit longer than they should on the lean muscles of his torso.

"Some random party skank," he laughed, wincing as Kate composed herself and punched him in the stomach.

I expected Kate to continue to beat the hell out of him, but she didn't. She simply turned, knelt down and dug around in her bag as Garrett stared down at her warily. I didn't blame him. There was no telling what was in Kate's bag. My cousin could have a gun in that bag and it wouldn't shock me. When she withdrew her small fisted hand there was no gun clutched between her fingers, just a bunch of wrinkled dollar bills.

"Do y'all want a snow cone?" Kate asked Alice and I in a quiet voice.

My cousin's eyes were hidden behind her shades, but I could almost swear I saw tears in them. Her voice quivered as she spoke. Garrett noticed her sudden change in emotion as well. I shook my head solemnly at my cousin as Alice begged her for a cotton-candy flavored snow cone.

Kate nodded, stood to her full height, and shrugged off a concerned looking Garrett who reached out, touching her shoulder. The three of us watched as she gracefully sauntered across the beach with her head held high.

A group of shirtless, tan, tatted guys whistled and cat-called as she passed them. I heard Garrett let out a low growl, and I found myself reaching out to stop him as he took a step forward. Kate never turned their way, which was also very un-Kate like. I told Garrett so. He glanced at me with conflict and uncertainty in his eyes.

"I keep messin' everything up," he grumbled as my hand slipped from his arm. "I just want her to pay me a little attention."

"Just be yourself, Garrett," I told him. "Be yourself, but don't try making her jealous or anything. If you have a crush on a girl you don't try friending her on Facebook with a profile pic of you and some random girl at a party. Kate's a confident person most of the time, but at the end of the day she's still just a girl. Even the most confident of us feel jabs at our self-esteem from time to time."

"You're right," he muttered, staring out across the beach at the small, white building with the giant, brightly-colored snow cones painted in geometric shapes across the old, cracked wood. "I should go tell her that the girl in the picture is really just my cousin, Rose."

I watched him trudge through the sand, scowling at the group of guys that had whistled at Kate. Shaking my head, I jumped as the sound of an incoming text message rang out in my beach bag. I fell to my knees, digging around through my belongings as Alice quietly snored beneath the shade of the umbrella.

_Meet me in the woods past the volleyball pit - Edward_

I did a little happy dance, feeling like an idiot as a tiny boy building a sloppy, wet sand castle nearby stared at me dumbly. Ignoring his appraising look, I shook my sister, frantically trying to wake her.

"What?" she moaned miserably.

"Are you okay alone for a while?" I asked, feeling slightly guilty for abandoning my high little sister. "I'm meeting Edward by the volleyball area. I'm texting Kate now to let her know where I'm going, okay?"

"Whatever," she muttered, shoving herself in a sitting position and yawning.

I found myself darting across the hot sand with my flip-flops in hand, passing the same group of rough-looking guys, who called out to me as well. As my feet hit the sidewalk, running the length of the beach and ending near the volleyball pit, I tossed my flip-flops on the ground and slid my feet into them. I trudged up a steep hill, and passed the old, drooping volleyball net where a game was in full swing.

The forest awaited me and I happily slipped past the tree-line. Bracken slipped between my flip-flops and bare feet as I slowly entered the wooded area, glancing around for any sign of Edward. The only sounds in the forest were the snap of twigs beneath my feet, the distant laughter and shouting of excited teenagers, and the occasional birdsong. The sensation of being watched washed over me, sending goosebumps along my skin.

"I know you're out here," I called out, turning as I heard a low, familiar chuckle nearby.

I took a few hesitant steps, passing a large black gum tree. My fingers trailed against the rough, rigid bark as I crept by.

Suddenly, a pair of warm, strong arms wrapped themselves smooth and sweet around my waist. A short, surprised gasp escaped my lips as Edward pulled me behind the black gum tree, leaning his back against it with my body pressed fluidly against his. I pretended to pout over his sneak attack, but the lazy grin and haphazard sex-hair eventually did me in. I gave up my pathetic attempt of being angry, and lost myself in a sweet kiss. My body burned as Edward's soft lips and hot tongue set it ablaze.

"I've missed you," he whispered against my lips.

"I've missed you too," I whispered in return, swallowing a ridiculously emotional lump that formed in my throat.

That boy made me feel so weak sometimes. He was the first person, the only person, that I worried about pleasing. I desired nothing but making him as happy as he made me. Fisting one hand in his white tee and the other in his hair, I drew his head closer, deepening the kiss. Edward moaned against my mouth, cupping my cheeks in each hand. The kiss became frantic and desperate. We barely came up for air as our tongues darted against one another. The forest air filled with the moaning, lusty sounds of two panting, horny teenagers.

"I've got a surprise for you," he drawled, breaking away from the kiss, gazing down at me with happy, sparkling green eyes.

"What is it?" I asked, hating that I was about to ruin his good mood by bringing up Jacob Black.

"Garrett brought his pontoon," he smirked, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. "He's convinced he'll win Kate over with his Party Barge."

Thoughts of Jacob Black were forgotten as I burst into laughter at Garrett's vain assumption about my cousin. He thought he'd capture Kate's heart with a floating piece of metal, wood, and green astro-turf. The funny thing about his idea was that it just might work.

"I like seeing you smile," Edward said, his face suddenly turning serious. "And hearing you laugh. I love it when you laugh. Your eyes light up and you have a tiny little dimple that shows."

"I don't have a dimple," I argued.

"Yes, you do," he whispered, brushing his thumb to the right side of my mouth. "It's small, but it's there. I love that little dimple. I love everything about you."

I kissed him in response, desiring nothing but to tell him I loved him as well. I wanted to tell him so terribly bad, but the words wouldn't come out of my mouth. They screamed over and over in my brain, but never made it past my lips. Why couldn't I do it? Why couldn't I say those three little words that came so easily to him?

We stayed in the woods for a while, kissing and touching one another behind that old black gum tree. Edward's cell vibrated constantly in the deep pocket of his red board shorts. I vaguely wondered who was continuously calling him.

I eventually grew tired and nosey enough to slide my hand deep into his pocket, snatching his cell. Edward made no move to retrieve it as he gave me a lopsided grin. His lips were pink and swollen from kissing.

Glancing down at the phone, I saw Garrett's name and face lit up across the screen. I handed the phone to Edward, demanding he answer it because it was driving me crazy. He laughed and answered the phone with a sexy smirk still playing on his face. That smirk slowly faded away as he stared down at me. My hands were busy exploring the hard, chiseled curves of his chest and the six-pack beneath the thin, soft shirt. My fingers froze in their exploration as I noticed his angry gaze. Edward ended the call and I glanced up at him in fear.

"Why haven't you told me about Jacob Black?" he asked in an eerily calm voice as he shoved the phone back in his pocket. "Why didn't you call me? You should have called me the minute, no the second, that he pulled you over."

"I couldn't call you!" I exclaimed as a knot of dread balled up in my chest. "He jerked me from the car before I had the chance to do anything! I didn't know what to do after that. I just knew that I had to get here and see you. I wanted to tell you face to face! I could just imagine you getting pissed off and jumping in your car to hunt him down. That's all I need on top of everything else going on in my life is for you to get hurt, arrested, or whatever!"

"I'll kill him," he told me, still using that calm voice as his mossy eyes gazed solemnly into my own. "Kate told Garrett he threw you against the hood of the car and put his hands on you. Then he pulled a gun on her. Is that true?"

Edward didn't wait for me to respond. He removed my arms from his chest and flipped them over. Two long, red streaks ran up the inside of both of my arms where the heat of the Jeep hood scalded my tender skin. I tried pulling my arms away to hide them from his sight, in a feeble attempt to calm him, but he held firm. I glanced up at him and white heat flashed through my body at the look in his eyes. It was a look like none other. Edward's normally sparkling green eyes turned black, vengeful, and dead. There was a sense of strong resolution playing on his features, as though he had the calendar marked for the date and the exact time Jacob Black would die.

"We're leaving these woods," he told me in a firm, no-nonsense tone as he gently raised each arm, taking turns peppering my burns with soft kisses. "After we leave these woods, I'm treating you to a day out on the lake. We're leaving everything that Jacob did to you here in these woods until the end of the day."

"And after that?" I said, the words foolishly leaving my mouth.

"After that?" he asked with a chuckle as his thumb brushed across my bottom lip.

His eyes were like two deep pools of angry darkness, gazing soullessly down into my own.

"After that," he said with a slow, curling smile. "After that, I'm going to kill Jacob Black."

* * *

This chapter is dedicated to a reader named Twirly, who made a very bad day into a great one. Thanks :)

Thanks to AliCat0623 for being my bitch, I mean, my Beta. I own any mistakes. I'm too impatient to send the chapter back for a second look after I fix all the corrections she suggests :)

Thanks to everyone who voted for 'Breakaway Bella' this week at The Lemonade Stand! There's still one day left to vote, so if you haven't already please do so ;) I'd loooovve to place in the fab five! Thanks, hottygurl7 ;)

Just a little FYI, I love all the positive reviews y'all leave me. Sometimes, when I'm having a bad day, I think about the nice things y'all tell me, and it makes all the bad disappear. Sometimes I focus on the negative more than the positive. I just want y'all to know that if you leave me a critical review I will question it, especially if you're vague with the criticism in the review. I always try to respond to each review, no matter if it is negative or positive. I made a promise to myself a long time ago to never block a person, no matter how angry they make me in their reviews or PM's, and I'll continue to uphold that promise. I only ask one thing of y'all. Don't personally insult me as an American, Southerner, or anything. If you don't like something in my story, that's fine, but don't take digs at me. You don't know me, so don't go there :)

So, what did you think about the chapter? Are you glad Bella finally thought about that safe? What about Nana's reaction? Do you think Edward's gonna kill Jake? Last chance to back out before things get ugly...


	13. Chapter 13: United

_Previously, in Chapter Twelve..._

_"We're leaving these woods," he told me in a firm, no-nonsense tone as he gently raised each arm, taking turns peppering my burns with soft kisses. "After we leave these woods, I'm treating you to a day out on the lake. We're leaving everything that Jacob did to you here in these woods until the end of the day."_

_"And after that?" I said, the words foolishly leaving my mouth._

_"After that?" he asked with a chuckle as his thumb brushed across my bottom lip._

_His eyes were like two deep pools of angry darkness, gazing soulless down into my own._

_"After that," he said with a slow, curling smile. "After that, I'm going to kill Jacob Black."_

* * *

_All for one and one for all, _

_united we stand_

_divided we fall._

_~Alexandre Dumas~_

**Chapter Thirteen: United**

"Tell me what happened earlier with Jacob Black," Edward demanded quietly through clenched teeth, narrowing his eyes as he stared down at me. "Don't leave anything out."

Edward's thumb left my lip. He grasped both of my small hands in his larger ones. I gazed up at him nervously, chewing on the corner of my bottom lip. The normally charming voice he dazzled me with was cold and irate.

"We were driving down the highway when I saw the blue lights. Jacob walked up to the side of the Jeep and told me to step out of the vehicle. When I didn't, he jerked me from the Jeep and threw me across the hood," I whispered, shivering as Edwards grip tightened on my hands and his eyes flashed lethally. "Kate tried to stop him. He pulled a gun and threatened to plant coke on her if she tried to stop him. Then he told me he knew about the two of us...that he has eyes and ears all over town."

"What else?" Edward asked. "Did he touch you, Bella?"

"He patted me down as though he was searching for something, but he wasn't looking for anything," I admitted. "Jacob pulled me over to intimidate me. Somehow he knows that we're seeing each other, Edward. He said he'll keep quiet about the two of us, but it comes with a price."

Edward released my hands for a moment, muttering incoherently below his breath. His long fingers traveled to his forehead and eventually to his hair as he glared at nothing.

"There's two things in this life people can't touch," Edward finally said, staring deeply into my frightened eyes. "Me and my family."

Confused by his statement, I glanced up at him and said, "I'm neither."

"You're right," he confirmed, reaching out to clasp my hands again, giving them an adamant squeeze. "You're both. You're a part of me, and one day I hope you'll become part of my family as well."

The meaning behind his heartfelt words made my heart swell.

Edward's gaze never wavered as I studied his eyes. They were clouded with venom and resolution. Images of Edward murdering Jacob played through my mind. Would he really do something like that? I was warned that he wasn't the man I thought he was, but I couldn't imagine he would really commit such a heinous act as murder.

"You're not really planning to kill him are you?" I whispered as he pulled me closer. "Maybe there's some other way...someone we can tell about us, Jacob, and Aro."

"What do you want to do, Bella?" Edward asked, shaking his head with a dry chuckle. "Go to the police station and file a formal complaint against Jacob? Wait! I've got an idea! We can call the FBI, because I'm sure they'll believe anything we tell them."

"I'm just weighing any options," I sighed, agitated with the situation.

"Let me do the worrying for the both of us, Sugar," he said, smirking at his chosen term of endearment.

Memories of our time in his bedroom played fresh in my mind. He laughed at the expression on my face, pulling me in for a kiss.

"I think when you give yourself to me," he began, mumbling against my lips. "I'd like it to happen somewhere in the woods. You look good standing here in that little blue bikini with nothing but the trees and hills as a backdrop."

Edward's voice swept over me. His breath was minty and spicy all at once, tantalizing my skin, my heart, my core. I was already wet from his words as his hand slipped beneath my sky blue bikini bottoms. I moaned as his fingers teased me, bringing more wetness with each gentle, tormenting stroke. Using his other hand, he gripped my ass and drew me in closer against him. All thoughts of Jacob Black evaporated from my mind with his words and with his touch.

Reaching up, I draped my sore arms lightly over his shoulders and melded my lips against his. My fingers drifted from the back of his neck and into his messy mop of hair. Edward moaned as I gently tugged at the strands. The tip of his tongue teased my mouth, and I gingerly parted my lips, allowing him access.

The kiss that began soft and sweet suddenly became frenzied and desperate. Edward's tongue and lips dominated my own as he gave another lusty groan. Our teeth clashed together and I was suddenly fueled by his desperation for me.

The gentle stroking between my legs became fast, furious and demanding, but he never delved inside my entrance. No, he preferred to torment me, avoiding the one place I so desperately needed him. The quelling in the pit of my stomach increased with each rough stroke. When Edward noticed my deep, ragged breaths, he abandoned my mouth, giving me a chance to breathe.

"I want inside of you, Bella," he whispered in a smooth, seductive voice that washed over me like warm honey. "I want to show you how I feel inside every time I look at you. How crazy you make me feel. I want to possess your body like you possess my soul. I want to lay you down and worship you from you from the top of your head to your cute little toes."

"You think my toes are cute?" I asked in a husky voice, inadvertently wiggling my toes as he continued his frantic exploration of my wetness with his fingers.

"They're perfect," he chuckled. "Just like you."

I was far from perfect, but I could no longer argue. I was breathless. My face was pressed against his hard chest. He continued to grip and massage my ass with one hand, which crept dangerously low as he cupped the bottom cheek of my ass. Somehow my hand found its way into his board shorts. He hissed when my bold fingers wrapped around the base of his length.

We stroked each other, sloppily at first, but eventually we found a mutual rhythm. The back of my arm would brush against his stomach with each stroke of his hardness, and I hummed in satisfaction at the tightness of his muscles, clenched together from the pleasure I sparked with my touch.

Edward muttered and cursed below his breath, abandoning my ass to yank each side my bikini top down. I squeaked in surprise, glancing hastily around us for any sign that someone could see my exposed breasts.

"We're all alone," he whispered in a dark voice, grinning deviously. "No one can see us. No one can hear us. I want you to scream when you come, Bella."

With that he pulled one hard nipple in his mouth and finally pumped two fingers inside me. I nearly came undone on the spot. The force of his fingers thrusting inside my body, and the thrill of his tongue swirling around my nipple, set my body ablaze. Removing my hand from his shorts, I shoved him roughly against the black gum tree. I laughed as his back hit the tree and he let out a startled grunt.

"You might need some leverage," I explained wickedly, throwing one leg over his hip.

Edward's eyes darkened, and his fingers dove almost painfully inside of me. I rocked against him and did as he said, crying his name out loudly as I came.

When I drifted down from the Edward induced high, I immediately found myself on my knees, ready and willing to do the one thing I'd thought about since leaving his house. My knees pressed against the hard soil, the twigs, and leaves uncomfortably, but it didn't matter. Edward's body visibly tensed as I grabbed the waistband of his trunks and yanked them down to his ankles, swallowing as his large erection sprang free.

He took a sharp breath, and was possibly about to say something. I didn't give him a chance. Glancing up at him I met his lusty, shocked gaze and gave him a smirk. As Kate would say, I 'manned up,' taking his thick cock in my hand and slowly stroking it before giving the wet tip a swipe with my tongue.

"Bella," he moaned, reaching down and knotting his fingers in my hair.

The sound of pure pleasure in his voice, in my name, drove me forward. I took him in my mouth, hoping that the instinct I was relying on proved to be pleasurable to him. My hands were splayed out on his hard thighs. He removed one hand from my hair, grasping my right hand and placing it on the base of his cock, wordlessly teaching me how to please him.

I sucked and pumped, not a bit annoyed by the fact that he enjoyed twisting my hair around his fingers, guiding my head. The almost domineering way he moved my head up and down was completely arousing. He tasted salty and warm, nothing like what I imagined, although I wasn't really sure what I imagined he'd taste like. I just knew it wasn't like that.

He was gentlemanly enough to warn me before he came, and when I dumbly ignored his warning he used my hair to gently move my head away from his body. I watched in fascination as his fingers left my hair and wrapped around his cock. He pumped it furiously and came in long white spurts. I heard my name slip quietly from his lips as I gazed up at him, transfixed by the way a vein bulged on the side of his face, the way his eyebrows were drawn in concentration, and the light sheen of sweat that broke across his forehead. His eyes were fixed on me the entire time.

~o0o0o0o~

I slipped out of the woods ahead of Edward, glancing around uneasily for any sign that someone noticed a lone girl wandering from the forest. No one paid me any attention. The group of kids playing volleyball had long gone, and a new group had taken their place. The beach was still crowded, yet slightly so.

Kate and Garrett were no where to be found, but shockingly enough, I spotted my little sister sitting on the water's edge with none other than Jasper Hale.

The two were in some sort of deep conversation. Alice stared at her tiny feet emerged in the water in front of her. Her arms were wrapped around her knees. She'd turn her head occasionally, resting her head on her knees to watch Jasper speak. Alice continued to hold an expression of wariness and distrust, but I was happy to see she was sitting within a couple of feet of him and not attacking him.

Jasper sat in a similar pose with his knees bent in front of him and feet in the water. He leaned back on his arms with his long fingers hidden beneath the white sand. The thin scars trailing over his arms and legs stood out brightly, like a beacon in the blinding summer light. I tore my eyes away from them, overcome with guilt at the way they demanded my attention each time I saw him.

I said Alice's name three times before she noticed me. Her large brown eyes glanced up and I realized she was still high. It was possibly the only reason she was giving Jasper the time of day.

Jasper greeted me with a lopsided grin that made me question if he really wasn't blood-related to the Cullens. His presence continued to make me feel somewhat uneasy, but I brushed the feeling aside.

"Hey, Bella," he greeted me in a friendly tone.

"Hey, Jasper," I replied, glancing away from his kind expression to my sister's stoned one. "Edward wants us to meet him at the bait store. Where's Kate?"

"The last time I saw them, they were sneaking off to Garrett's truck," Jasper spoke up for my sister who continued to stare blankly at me.

"Great," I muttered, scowling and turning to gather our belongings alone, since my cousin abandoned me.

Jasper surprised me by quietly joining me, working silently by my side as I cast him a suspicious glance. He simply smiled in return, shaking the sand from Alice's beach towel, folding it perfectly, and slipping it inside her beach bag.

Alice crawled over to where we diligently worked to clear the area. I watched from the corner of my eye as Jasper pulled a cold bottle of water from our cooler and offered it to my sister. He twisted the cap for her when she had trouble, and she gave him a small, hesitant smile. It was strange witnessing a stranger being so kind to my sister. Hell, it was strange seeing anyone being so thoughtful to her.

Jacob's words continued to haunt me as Jasper helped me lug all our belongings, and Alice as well, to the Jeep. I found myself glancing around constantly. There were no familiar faces among the throng of adults, teens, and children. I relaxed somewhat, hoping maybe Edward was right about not running into people we knew.

"Edward doesn't care," Jasper spoke up, helping my sister slide into the Jeep as I raised an eyebrow at his remark.

"He doesn't care if we get caught," he clarified, gently closing the door beside her as she gave him a wistful smile. "He wants an excuse to plow down anyone who gets between the two of you. That's just Edward. It's his nature."

"He doesn't seem anything like that," I muttered, slightly annoyed that this boy knew Edward better than I.

"You only know one side of Edward," Jasper smirked, annoying me by casually ruffling my Edward-mussed hair as he sauntered across the parking lot towards Garrett's truck. "Garrett and Kate told me about Jacob. It's just a matter of time now before you see the Edward Cullen we've known all these years."

Jasper tossed those last words over his shoulder as he approached Garrett's truck which was rocking slightly. It was parked at the far end of the lot taking up several spaces with the Party Barge attached to the back, but I paid little attention to the pontoon at that time. Jasper glanced through the window and shook his head in disgust. He turned his head away and knocked on the window, patiently waiting as my cousin slid from the truck.

She passed Jasper without a second glance. Her head was held high and her shades were on crooked. The messy knot of hair was a disheveled mess with half of it hanging from the elastic band that once held it up. Kate looked ridiculous.

"What?" she huffed, shoving past me and hopping into the Jeep.

I rolled my eyes and we left the parking lot, leaving Jasper and Garrett where they sat. I turned my head and studied my traveling companions.

"So you and Jasper?" I asked Alice, raising an eyebrow and then glancing at my cousin. "And you and Garrett?"

"Don't try to act all coy," Kate snapped, shoving the shade to the top of her head. "It's obvious this was all some sort of set up."

"So, how did he reign you in?" I asked with a grin.

Kate let out a massive sigh and fell back against the seat.

"He didn't at first," she muttered, nervously fiddling with the hem of her tank top. "He apologized for acting like an ass. I tore him a new one, hollering and shaking my fist at him. Damn near dropped my snow cone. I guess the heat and what happened earlier today got the best of me. I started screaming about Jacob and the gun."

Her voice stopped abruptly as she stared at the passing green hills and trees along the long stretch of highway.

"And then?" I pressed.

"Then he got all quiet and serious. He lost that shit-eating grin. I've never seen someone look so pissed off. He called Edward and made me stand there and re-tell the story. The next thing I know he drags me to his truck, throws me inside, and had his way with me. It was...hot."

"Dear Lord," I muttered, shaking my head in disgust. "What about you, Alice? What about you and Jasper?"

Alice said nothing. Her small body was angled away from mine as she gazed solemnly at the passing scenery. Kate and I exchanged nervous glances, but I didn't repeat my question.

After pulling from the main highway we drove down a bumpy road. Tucker's Bait and Tackle loomed ahead, and I pulled into the gas station parking lot, cutting the engine.

The boys pulled up just as Kate and I were discussing the possible contents of the safe. Alice lagged behind us, still lost in her own little world. The boys had gathered by the passenger door of Garrett's truck, talking quietly to one another with serious expressions on their faces. They became more relaxed once they noticed us stroll up beside them, turning to us with relaxed smiles on their faces.

"This is strange," I told Edward, glancing around the parking lot. "Being in public together, I mean."

"We're miles from Birchwood and Mayhaw," he reassured me, grabbing my belt loop and pulling me against his warm, hard body. "No one knows us here."

"Kids from home go swimming and fishing in Baxton all the time," I argued as he pulled the glass door open.

Fliers announcing local benefits, lost pets, and missing people fluttered against the movement as the door swung open. The smell of stale cigarettes, and hot dogs warming on the hot dog warmer, hit me as we entered the store.

"You never worry about us getting caught," I told him in an accusing voice as I side-eyed him, remembering Jasper's earlier words. "Why is that?"

"Truthfully?" he asked, smiling deviously as I nodded. "I'm just looking for an excuse to beat someone's ass over you."

Edward's violent confession should have upset me. Instead it shamefully turned me on.

As we passed a rack of pork skins and foot-long Slim Jims, Edward gave me a slap on the ass and them abandoned me, joining his cousins near the bait cooler.

Kate and Alice wandered to where the boys stood debating over night crawlers and minnows. I grabbed a Diet Mountain Dew, fueling my well-known addiction. I placed it on the faded, chipped counter and met the creepy gaze of a middle-aged cashier.

"Hey, Darlin'," the man said with a deep, rough voice.

A half-smoked, off-brand cigarette dangled from his lips. The ashtray beside the register was overflowing with butts. The sound of the word 'darlin' sounded nothing like it did when it left Edwards lips. I handed him two dollars and ignored the way his eyes lingered on my bikini clad chest.

The man was still leering at me when Edward arrived. The man's dry, wrinkled hand brushed against my palm as he deposited my change in my open palm. Edward pulled me into him from behind, possessively holding my waist as I felt his hard glare penetrating the man.

"Problem?" Edward asked gruffly as the others joined us, dropping containers of worms on the counter.

The man dropped his eyes, quickly ringing up the order and wisely choosing to say nothing. As we left the store and parted ways, Edward whispered one last thing in my ear.

"Just looking for an excuse."

~o0o0o0o~

Once we arrived at the dock I got my first good look of Garrett's pontoon. I found myself staring in awe at the monstrosity of a brand-spanking-new twenty-two foot party barge.

The sight of Garrett offering Kate his assistance on the boat, and Kate responding with a smack to the back of his head, brought me out of my stupor. The two fussed and squabbled and I shook my head with a smirk. Edward offered me his hand and I took it without hesitation, allowing him to help me up on the boat.

We left the dock and the boat gradually glided through the dark water, with Garrett manning the steering wheel. The sight of Kate hesitantly allowing him to pull her onto his lap brought a smile to my face. Garrett gave her a Cullenesque crooked grin, snickering as she scowled and crossed her arms over her chest.

My sister was sitting at the stern of the boat with her small, bare feet dangling over the edge. The sloppy bun on the top of her head was no longer there. Instead her long, ebony locks danced in the humid breeze. Jasper casually approached her with his hands deep in his green swim trunks. He carefully eased down beside her. Alice turned her head away from him, silently watching as we passed limestone cliffs. Jasper dropped his feet off the edge as well, wordlessly gazing at her until she turned her head. He spoke, and Alice appraised him with a blank expression until I finally saw her lips moving.

It killed me, not hearing the conversation they were carefully engaged in. I wondered if Jasper would win her trust, as he'd already won her heart.

"What are you thinking so hard about?" Edward questioned, brushing his lips against my temple.

We were lounging on a beige leather chair surrounding a large round table. My body was pressed flush against his. The breeze gently stroked our hot skin. I found myself absently playing with the soft hair on his legs. His thumbs were pressed in the top of my shorts on both sides of my waist. I felt him growing hard against my back, but he made no pass at me.

"Just wondering if our stubborn relatives will cave in after this expedition," I chuckled. "Or if they'll kill each other first."

Edward laughed lightly, gripping my waist and pulling me closer to him. We were silent for a long while. Nothing but the wind, the soft murmur of the others, and the occasional passing engine breaking the quiet. Then, out of the blue, Edward asked me about my happiest childhood memory.

"Hm...probably the time Daddy took us to Disney World," I said, staring nostalgically at the puffy white clouds as they hung in the startlingly blue sky. "Alice was so excited. She dreamed about Cinderella's Castle for months. I'll never forget the smile on her face as we watched the castle light up in the night with fireworks exploding in the sky around it. I've never seen that expression on her face since then. It was pure joy, magic, and wonder, like all her fantasies came through in that exact moment."

"So your happiest memory is your sister's happiness?" he asked, inspecting my features thoughtfully.

I shrugged, slightly saddened by the fact.

"Worst memory?" he asked quietly, as I turned and gazed into his green eyes.

"That's tricky," I responded, my eyes inadvertently darting to where my sister sat near Jasper. "Alice has been sick...so many times. If I had to choose a memory that didn't involve her, or the moment I found out my father was dead, I'd say it was more of a bundle of memories.

"My life hasn't always been trips to Cinderella's castle. There was many times in my childhood when we were so broke we couldn't keep the power on. Alice and I would sleep together, clinging to one another to stay warm. Daddy was too proud to ask anyone for money, and it seemed like it took forever for him and my uncles to get their construction business up and running. We put on a good show though. People didn't realize how destitute we were back then."

"People think drug trafficking is a high-dollar way of life, don't they?" he asked, studying me as I nodded. "They don't realize it's like the stock market. It goes up, it goes down."

"That's why you have to need a fall back plan," he said lightly.

"Like owning a factory? Or being a doctor?" I asked cautiously. "Are you leaving for college in the fall?"

"No," he replied, raising an eyebrow at my disappointed frown. "I'm staying here, making sure you're safe. When you graduate I'm taking you with me."

"You are?" I asked, twisting to completely to face him. "I don't see how that's going to happen. My family will kill me. Even if that wasn't the case, I have Alice, Nana, and the cake shop to take care of."

"It'll all work out," he said, smooth and confident. "Maybe Alice just needs someone else to take care of her for once."

I glanced back at my sister, pleased to see she was finally facing Jasper. I drew in a deep breath as she reached out towards him. Her fingers trailed up his arms, brushing delicately over his scars as he stared earnestly into her eyes.

"Best memory?" I asked, forcing my eyes away from my sister and Jasper.

"Hm...let me think. I'd say it'd have to be the look of pride on my father's face when he took me on a drug run once," he said, skimming his nose against the shell of my ear. "We stopped at his friend's house. It was a two-story log cabin back in the woods. He left me in the truck and told me he'd be right back. When he got back to the truck his pocket was bulging out. My father reached in his pocket and handed me a stack of money, wrapped up in a rubber band. He said 'How does that feel in your hands, boy?' I told it felt good and it did. That's not why he did it though, sold drugs I mean."

"I told you my father had epilepsy. Watching him have seizures...that's some of my worst memories. I was just a kid, but I felt so guilty with my inability to help him," Edward said, his eyes clouded with stormy memories. "That's why he started smoking marijuana to begin with. It helped him with the seizures. Before long he realized he could make a business out of it. He began selling it to other people suffering from seizure disorders, multiple sclerosis...cancer patients in pain. Marijuana distribution didn't begin or end as a way to make ends meet, but before long his business blew up. My father began raking in the money. He hired Uncle Carlisle to help him. It became an empire. But all empires have enemies."

"My family," I whispered.

The storm clouds vanished from his eyes as he gazed down at me.

"For a long while Carlisle believed Charlie Swan murdered my father," he whispered. "But the pieces didn't fit. Your father found something out...something that tied our families together, Carlisle believes. By the time Carlisle realized that, it was too late."

"Your father helped sick people feel better. That's admirable."

"He wasn't a saint, Bella. He enjoyed the money and the power," Edward said, tightening his grip on me. "Power is a treacherous thing. It overshadows everything, making everything else in life seem meaningless. Frivolous. It becomes addictive like the money. Money is the root of all evil."

"The_ love_ of money is the root of all evil," I corrected, giving him the stink eye. "Get your Bible verses right, Cash."

"Who doesn't love money?" he asked with an innocent grin. "Why do you think _your _father started selling drugs? It was love of money. He probably grew up just as poor and country as my father did."

"Do you smoke weed?" I asked bravely. "Do you sell it?"

Edward raised and eyebrow and said, "I smoke occasionally. As for the selling part, there's some things you just don't need to know."

"Which means yes," I snickered as he gave me a crooked smile.

"I know _you_ smoke. You were high the night of that party. You were high the night at the train station," he said, ghosting his hands over my abdomen, creeping his fingers in the direction on my bikini top. "You were sitting there with wide eyes, big pupils, and juicy pink lips begging to be kissed. Some loser was drooling all over you. It took everything within me not to pull you from that bar, throw you over my shoulder, and cut out running."

"Caveman," I whimpered, my eyes darting to where our family sat enraptured in one another.

Edward paid them no mind. His eyes glimmered as the tips of his fingers ran delicately over the bikini top, skimming over my puckered nipples.

"You make me animalistic," he whispered, ensnaring my earlobe, licking and nibbling it gently. "You don't know me, Bella. I've done things. I've done bad things to people. Jacob Black made a horrible mistake today. He should never touch what's mine, what's always been mine, and what will always be mine."

Edward's voice was poison and pain. I should have been scared, I should have been worried, but I wasn't. I was his, no matter what path he chose in life, and no matter who he had to kill to claim that path. I told Carlisle I was in it for life, and I meant what I said.

Edward lightly skimmed his thumbs against my hard nipples, making my thoughts thick and hazy.

"Get a room!" Kate called out, cackling with a smirk in her face.

Edward quietly laughed, removing his fingers from my chest. I grumbled at the lose of his touch. I didn't realize the pontoon had come to a standstill. Edward's hardness pressed almost painfully against my back where we lounged. He muttered something unintelligible under his breath while I smirked at him.

The rest of my day was spent lounging against Edward, watching as the others fished. Kate and Garrett cat-called and teased us for the next several hours as we selfishly avoided interacting with them. Alice and Jasper seemed content to sit silently next to one another. My sister's quiet mood was odd, and I worried over what was going on inside her head.

The hours drifted away while I lay tangled with Edward. Twilight was threatening to soon set in. Garrett guided the boat back to the dock with Kate perched on his lap once more. Her small face rested in the crook of his neck, and I realized I'd never seen her so innocently intimate with another person.

Once we arrived on shore Edward insisted that he and the boys follow us home, especially since there was a certain safe he was suddenly anxious to unearth.

Our day spent drifting on the lake, beneath the sun with the Cullen boys, helped ease the tension of Jacob's presence earlier in the day. However, once we left the lake and arrived in Mayhaw, the reality of what happened between us and Jacob Black set in once more.

We waited anxiously in the driveway for the boys who eventually cruised down the steep drive in Garrett's truck. They hid it in the woodshed, per Edward's instructions.

Thirty minutes later I found myself leading the pack into the woods. The sound of a lone whopperwheel sounded in the distance. The bird's cry repeated methodically as I followed the beam of my flashlight through the trees and over the hard ground.

No one spoke. The situation was too serious, too important for Kate and Garrett to swap jabs with one another, and too solemn for Alice to make some bizarre remark.

A rickety metallic sound joined in with the whooperwheel cry as Edward pushed Daddy's old rusty wheelbarrow over the bracken beside me.

It was nothing like my dream. There was no Nana waiting for me as the beam of light ghosted up the wide, white bark of the great oak. I spotted a pink ribbon hanging silent and dead from the barb wired fence. The group came to a halt as I paused at the base of the tree and pointed at the ground.

"There," I muttered with a trembling finger.

Edward and the boys started digging, taking turns as I only had two shovels. The safe wasn't buried very deep. I heard the clink of metal upon metal as the blade hit its mark. The boys became excited, frantically digging around the safe with their hands, removing the dark soil which encased it.

It took the strength of the three of them, sweaty, shirtless, and smeared with mud, to remove the safe from the ground. Once it was above ground level, Edward heaved it from the earth and dropped it in the wheelbarrow. We crept across the forest floor and arrived back at the driveway. The six of us gazed at one another with questions in our eyes.

"We'll take it back to Carlisle's," Jasper decided, finally breaking the silent question. "That way it's away from Aro, and we can work on cracking it open. Bella, you should do your best to figure out the combination, just in case I can't get it open. Maybe it's a birthday? An anniversary?"

"Uh, uh! Hold up," Kate interrupted with one hand propped on her hip. "What makes you think we're just gonna hand over our Nana's safe to the family enemy? You think one day on the lake and some casual groping wins our trust?"

Garrett stared at her incredulously as her eyes bore into Jasper's. Jasper narrowed his eyes in return at her evil gaze.

"We have no reason to deceive y'all," Garrett spoke up in an irritated voice.

"You have every reason to deceive us!" Alice muttered, finally breaking for her muteness.

Alice, Jasper, Kate, and Garrett began bickering. Kate threw her hands up in emphasis as her face quickly turned red, the color noticeable even in the pale moonlight. I stood still, quiet as Edward turned and gave me a weary glance.

"Bella, don't you trust me?" Edward asked, causing the others to immediately settle down.

Edward ran his dirty fingers over his forehead, smearing a trail of wet soil in its wake. Edward searched my eyes for an answer.

I did trust him. I trusted him with my entire being. But that was my grandmother's safe. My grandmother, who was the only positive role model I had in my short, pathetic existence. The severity of what I was about to do, by allowing him to take my grandmother's personal belongings, wasn't to be taken lightly. I wanted him to feel the depth of my decision and hopefully understand that my trust in him should never be questioned.

"You're asking me to give you the one thing that you'll never share in return," I told him quietly as the heaviness of the states of our relatives bore down on me. "Trust."

The two of us met head to head in a dark face-off. Raising my chin, I wordlessly dared him with my cool gaze, a gaze that I inherited from my mother, to deny the trust. Edward Cullen's acidic stare, that worked on others, no longer worked on me.

We stood there for a length of time before he finally spoke.

"I'm taking the safe," told me in a low, firm voice. "I' d like your permission, but you and I both know I don't need it."

His response irked me. I narrowed my eyes in retaliation. But deep inside I knew he was right. I wouldn't fight him. Why should I?

"We need something in return," Alice piped up, glancing at me before casting her spell on Jasper. "Something to prove to Kate and I that we can have faith in you."

It escaped no one's notice that Alice failed to mention my name in her comment. My sister knew me well.

Jasper nodded. He and Garrett began whispering lowly to one another. Edwards eyes remained on mine. Black. Unblinking. I never broke his stare.

"No, I have a better idea," Kate spoke up, garnering all of our attention. "I want your word, your promise, that when you kill Jacob Black you'll let me in on it."

"Kate!" I gasped, finally drawing my eyes from Edward and to my cousin.

"He pointed a gun at my face!" she said. "He threatened to shoot me and plant coke on my dead body. Excuse me if I want him to die."

"You got it, Babe," Garrett suddenly drawled.

Jasper and Edward's heads snapped toward him in astonishment. Garrett gave them a lazy grin and a nonchalant shrug.

"We don't include anyone in on our plans," Edward emphasized, staring sternly at his cousin. "The more people involved the bigger chance of getting caught. You know this."

"Aw, come on, cuz," Garrett smirked, tossing his arm around Kate's shoulders. "You started this whole thing going after a Swan girl in the first place! You really expect these three girls to sit on their thumbs waiting on us to do something? _These_ three girls? We've been the Cullen Clan for far too long, Edward. Let's join forces."

I felt Edward's eyes on me once more. Glancing up at him, I begged him, silently, to trust me. I pleaded with one look for him to break his first rule. I pleaded with him to trust me.

"Fine," he muttered, blowing out an exasperated breath. "Jasper, Garrett, and I will take the safe with us tonight. Let's get some rest and then we'll work out a plan for Jacob Black."

"There's no way the three of you are safe alone. Not after what happened today," Jasper spoke, glancing around at Alice, Kate, and I. "You need someone staying with you at all times."

"Who?" Alice asked wide-eyed. "We can't tell Emmett or Benjamin. They'll never believe us...not until we get evidence out of that safe. That is, if there is any evidence in that safe."

"You leave the safe to me, Princess," Jasper told my sister with a grin. "I happen to have a little experience with cracking codes. Is there any way your mother can come home? Maybe you could stay with her..."

"No," Edward interrupted gruffly. "They're not safe going out of town. Not where I can't keep track of them."

"I'd like to see my mother," Alice whispered sadly, tracing invisible patterns along Jasper's tan arm with a long, manicured nail.

Jasper gazed at her solemnly. Alice felt the weight of his stare and her eyes darted up to meet his. The two of them gazed at one another for a long moment, lost in each other's eyes, transfixed as we all stood watching the silent exchange.

"We'll go see Mom soon, I assured her, inadvertently breaking the spell by reaching out and squeezing her hand.

"Until then, maybe we should take turns staying here...or maybe you two could stay with us," Edward suggested, glancing between Alice and I. "At least stay with us tonight. Then we'll figure out a more permanent solution. I think Kate is safe at home. At least she has her father there to protect her. You and Alice have no one."

"What if someone notices?" I asked hesitantly, trying to squelch the excitement bubbling in my gut. "What would Carlisle and Esme think? Would they...allow that?"

The boys glanced at one another and burst into laughter as the three of us girls frowned at them. Edward snickered, pulling me into his arms as I feebly batted at him. I was no match for his strong arms and his sexy grin.

"No one will notice, and trust me, they won't mind," he whispered, drawing my earlobe into his hot mouth and giving it a nip. "As long as we're happy, they're happy."

I wondered what it was like, being around people who wanted nothing but your happiness, expecting nothing in return. It wouldn't be long before I found out. Alice and I made our decision with one wordless, wide-eyed stare.

The next twenty minutes were spent hastily throwing some clothes into a couple of duffel bags as the boys washed the dirt and muck from their hands.

Kate left with Garrett trailing far behind her, ensuring she arrived home safely.

Edward and Jasper tossed our bags in the back of my Jeep where the dirty safe rested. They then helped me put the top back on the Jeep, in a vain attempt to conceal that they were riding with us.

I pulled out of the driveway in the dead of night with my stomach bubbling in both excitement and nerves. Alice sat in an anxious ball beside me in the passenger seat, and the boys slouched down in the back.

We were all so quiet, so caught up in our own thoughts, that we didn't notice the police cruiser hidden behind the thick group of Mayhaw trees standing low near the gray bridge on the outskirts of town. We didn't feel Jacob Black's cold, dead eyes watching my Jeep cross over the muddy water, traveling over a bridge that all Swans were prohibited to cross.

We certainly didn't know that the very next day would be the last time Jacob Black's dark gaze would fall on us again. What happened next would forever change our lives, spiraling our worlds into an erratic tailspin, all because of love.

* * *

As always, thanks AliCat0623 for your beta skills and friendship (but my fried chicken can still kick your fried chicken's ass).

WIP rec's:

Dress You Up- by MazzyStarla. Her Bella is funny and sassy (I flove this author and her WIP rocks).

The Man in the Long Black Coat- by CrackedFic. I usually stick with AH, but this fic is great! Violence! Yummmm!

Stolen- Rochelle Allison. This is a new one that I just started yesterday. Two chapters already up. Rochelle's writing makes me so happy. Read it, then Starry Eyed Inside, then Air, and then all her others *dreamy sigh*

Down Home- MrsSpaceCowboy. This was an entry in the Heart of Country contest that the author is extending. This story takes place in Mississippi, so I was immediately hooked by the warmth and familiarity of it all.

Love Like a Hurricane- Counselor (thanks Rochelle for the rec). This author's writing is not for everyone, but to me it is like poetry. It's not all rainbows and butterflies, which is probably what draws me in the most.

Homicidal (now complete)- ThreeHotPotatoes. Sometimes I just wanna laugh and this did it for me! Drabble ;)

So, Edward and Bella have gotten to know one another a little better, huh? Sounds like a visit to Renee is looming in the distance...plus Jacob's demise (if you follow me on FB you already have an idea about poor Jacob's future). The Cullens and Swans are finally united...and Bella and Alice are spending the night with Edward and Jasper?!

What did you think about the chapter? I'm waiting...


	14. Chapter 14: Southern Justice

Warning: Lemons, Love, and Violence. Mm..my three favorite things. Read at your discretion.

_Previously, in Chapter Thirteen..._

_We were all so quiet, so caught up in our own thoughts, that we didn't notice the police cruiser hidden behind the thick group of Mayhaw trees standing low near the gray bridge on the outskirts of town. We didn't feel Jacob Black's cold, dead eyes watching my Jeep cross over the muddy water, traveling over a bridge that all Swans were prohibited to cross._

_We certainly didn't know that the very next day would be the last time Jacob Black's dark gaze would fall on us again. What happened next would forever change our lives, spiraling our worlds into an erratic tailspin, all because of love._

* * *

_Cursed is the man who dies,_

_but the evil done by him survives._

_~Abu Bakr~_

**Chapter Fourteen: Southern Justice**

I knew something was fishy the moment we pulled in Edward's driveway. Only Jasper's primer-gray truck sat in the driveway near the large garage. The other expensive, flashy vehicles were gone. The large lodge-style house was virtually encased in darkness, except for the front porch light and the glow of a burning lamp in the living room.

"Where is everyone?" I asked suspiciously, raising one eyebrow as I glanced over my shoulder into Edward's dancing eyes.

"Did I forget to mention that Esme, Carlisle, and Rose are gone for the night?" Edward asked with mock innocence gracing his handsome face. "Esme and Rose went on their monthly shopping trip to Atlanta, and Carlisle never lets them go alone."

My pulse picked up dramatically. My blood raced through my veins. I felt my cheeks heat up as I avoided Alice's worried frown. No wonder they'd acted so casually when I asked if Carlisle and Esme minded us staying the night. They weren't even there!

The four of us climbed out of the Jeep and my sister met me near the front of the vehicle.

"This is the most insane thing I've ever agreed to!" she hissed, shooting Jasper a narrow-eyed glare.

"I doubt that," I muttered, heaving a sigh as I thought of her antics over the years. "Jasper's a nice guy. I didn't like him at first, but he's growing on me. Look how well he took care of you today at the lake. Just...give him a chance, okay?"

My sister gave me a pensive nod as the boys joined us at the front of the Jeep. Jasper led us up the front porch stairs, casually grabbing Alice's small hand in his own. I'd never seen my sister look so nervous...or sober.

Edward's arm crept around my waist. Glancing up at him through my lashes, I was met with his signature sexy smirk...and I knew.

I knew before the end of the night I'd give Edward Cullen what I'd never given anybody: my heart, my soul, and my virginity.

I should have been nervous, but I'd never been so determined in all my life. Something clicked in my brain. It suddenly all made sense; meeting him at the age of twelve, never giving myself to any other boy, and sketching his face for all those years were just a few of many things leading up to that night.

Edward's eyes were on my face and he looked slightly confused, wondering about the resolution etched across my features. I merely gave him a smile, snickering as he looked a little taken aback.

Jasper gave Alice a tour of the house while I sat at the bar and watched Edward make us a late, simple supper. He warmed up some leftovers and shooed me away when I tried to help, telling me I was his guest. After the four of us ate, Alice and I headed upstairs to take a shower while the boys cleaned the dishes.

"I'm sleeping with Edward tonight," I told her in an indisputable, steady voice, barely above a whisper as we padded down the upstairs hallway.

Alice halted in her steps, nearly tripping over her tiny feet.

"What?" she gasped, catching up to me as I entered Edward's bedroom. "Are you serious?"

"Yes," I nodded. "Can you keep Jasper company and make sure he doesn't come downstairs...or outside?"

"Outside!" she finally giggled, dropping her serious face and slapping me on my arm. "You little freak! I didn't know you had it in you! Wow! Uh, yeah, I'll...keep him occupied."

Alice had a slightly silly grin on her face that I chose to ignore. We parted ways and I took a long shower, stealing Edward's razor and shaving cream, using it to carefully shave. I covered myself in his body wash, loving the manly scent that lingered on my skin after I finished bathing. I wanted to be wrapped up in his smell constantly, and briefly thought about stashing the body wash in my bag and taking it with me when I left the next day.

Stepping out of the shower, I wrapped a large towel around my body and side-eyed my clothes that rested near the sink. Abandoning them, I crept across the white tile and gently pushed the door open.

I knew he'd be there. Edward sat at the foot of his bed with his elbows resting on his knees and his head hanging down. Deep contemplation was ingrained on his face. The light from the bathroom spread across the floor and washed over his body, making his copper hair shine in the light. He lifted his head and froze, staring at me standing in the bathroom doorway in nothing but a towel.

He took in everything: my bare legs, the way my one foot twisted in front of the other, my long wet hair hanging limply over my shoulders, the drops of water running from my face and trailing down my cleavage as it disappeared between my breasts.

Edward licked his lips and straightened up slightly as I walked across the bare floor, stopping just in front of him.

"Back porch," I told him in a husky, lusty voice that I didn't even know I possessed. "Now."

"Yes, ma'am," he whispered, pushing himself off the bed. He stood tall, hovering over me with dark, smoldering sex-eyes and chiseled cheekbones.

Edward said nothing more. He grabbed my hand and pulled me, giggling, to the door. He didn't check the hallway for Jasper or Alice. He didn't care. He pulled me boldly from the room, gripping my damp hand tightly, and the two of us rushed down the stairs.

We crept outside onto the dark porch and Edward dropped my hand. An abandoned lighter sat on one of the tables near the ashtray where Carlisle smoked his cigars. Edward snatched it up and flicked the lighter. I watched as he lit a small citronella candle that rested on the table, bathing the porch in a soft, golden glow.

"I wanted to take you in the woods," he said, dropping the lighter and meeting my gaze. "But this is just as sweet. I hear the crickets singing, the water from the river lapping against the shore, the frogs croaking. It reminds me of the night at the party. You remember the night of the party, don't you, Sugar?"

"Yes," I whispered, remembering the night fondly.

"Do you remember what a tease you were?" he asked, slowly stalking toward me with a dangerously seductive look on his face. "You let me touch you, kiss you, and then you ran."

The memory of that night flashed through my mind. I remembered everything: the way Edward's fingers touched my breasts, the way his lips brushed against my own, the way his hands tugged at my jeans, desperate to roam my slick center.

"Yes," I whimpered, knowing I was trapped at a point of no return.

Edward reached out, tugging the towel where it was knotted near my breasts. The towel fell, drifting down my body and landing at my feet. The warm night air hung muggy around my naked flesh.

Edward stood there a long moment, silent, unmoving, simply drinking me in with his eyes as they roamed my body. My nipples strained under his stare.

"Tell me the truth," he demanded, finally reaching out and lightly brushing his fingertips against my lily tattoo, causing my skin to erupt in gooseflesh. "Why do you have this tattoo?"

"You know why," I whispered, my chest rising and falling as I began taking deep, ragged breaths.

"I want you to tell me," he whispered in a dark voice as his eyes flashed down at me. "Say it, Bella."

This was it. He wanted it. He wanted me to say the three words that I'd spoken to no other man in my life, besides my own father.

"I love you," I whispered, swallowing the knot in my throat. "I've always loved you, Edward. I always will. Only you."

I barely had the words out of my mouth when Edward descended upon me, cupping my cheeks with his hands, and pressing his lips against my mouth. The kiss was never gentle. It was frantic, needy, and desperate. His tongue slid between my lips and plunged in and out of my mouth, with my tongue meeting his, stroke for stroke, as though they were making passionate, angry love with one another. His mouth tasted like sugar and sin.

Edward tugged me backwards, still kissing me as we stumbled to the large, white outdoor bed. I grasped his fitted shirt, pausing from the desperate kissing to yank it over his head and toss it to the side. Edward cupped my breasts and squeezed roughly as I fumbled with his swim trunks, pulling them down as well, and wrapping my hand around his rock-hard length.

Edward didn't touch me the way I touched him, and I felt myself burning and needy, desperate for him to touch me where I wanted him the most. Instead he pinched and pulled at my nipples, palming my breasts before turning me around and tossing me on the white bed.

"I want to make love to you, Bella," he told me in a gruff voice as he gazed down at where I lay, sprawled against the fluffy white bed. "As much as I hope to be gentle, I can't stop thinking about driving into you. I've waited so long for this. I don't want to hurt you, but I can't make any promises. Are you sure you want to do this?"

Instead of being terrified of his words, I was thrilled by them. Why wouldn't I? I'd thought of him the same way too, fierce and passionate.

I nodded and he gave me a sexy smirk. He crawled on top of me, sucking my bottom lip into his mouth before trailing his lips down my neck. Pausing at my left breast, he ran the tip of his tongue against my pebbled nipple, flicking it back and forth forcefully. My hips rose to their own accord, and I found myself trying to wrap my legs around his waist.

He chuckled, pushing my legs away, leaving me more wanton for his touch. My body throbbed, wanting hard, rough friction against my wet flesh, yet he didn't grant it. He took turns with my breasts, licking and sucking at my nipples, as he tortured me. When he tired of that, his tongue descended south, ghosting across my skin, dipping into my belly button before making his way between my legs. When his mouth met my sensitive nub, I cried out loudly in pleasure.

He laughed lightly before sucking with his lips and thrusting with his tongue. His fingers found their way inside me, and hit the spot that felt so very good, while his thumb massaged my nub. My hands found their way into his bronze hair. I tugged and pulled, unconsciously rocking my hips against his mouth and fingers.

I whimpered when he finally pulled his mouth away from my flesh. He hovered over me, his hands on either side of my body. The two of us were caught up in a trance, staring at one another as we both panted.

"I don't have a condom," he said suddenly, breaking the spell and causing me to frown.

What teenage boy doesn't have a condom?

"I'm clean. Are you on any birth control?" he asked.

"How do I know you're clean?" I asked, ignoring his question.

"Because I just told you so," was his witty response as he raised an eyebrow.

"I'm on the pill," I replied, believing his words for whatever they were worth.

"Good," he grinned. "Because I want to feel every hot, wet, inch of you wrapped around me."

Those words caused a thrill to shoot from my chest to straight between my legs. He leaned down and I felt his hardness rubbing against my wet center.

All thoughts of condoms and birth control left my mind as he ground himself with agonizing patience against my body, starting at my entrance before grazing firmly over my clit. I was swollen, throbbing, and so wanton. I reached down, wrapped him in my hand, and guided him to my entrance.

Watching my face carefully, Edward began to slowly push into me. A sharp, pinching pain engulfed my lower body. I drew in a breath and he stilled, gazing down at me with those fucking regretful eyes. How dare he stare at me with those eyes?

Not wanting him to regret anything, I bit my lip, grabbed his hips, and pulled him further against me. I moaned when the pain interlaced with pleasure as he stretched and filled me.

Sweat beaded on his brow, and his muscles stiffened as he held himself back. I could feel how badly he wanted to pound against me. Despite the pain, I wanted it too.

Taking a deep, brave breath, I coaxed him with the movement of my own hips. A deep, throaty moan slipped from his mouth. The sound enthralled me and I was captivated. Ignoring the pinch and burn, I met him thrust for thrust.

Edward groaned, dropping his chest against mine and nuzzling his face against the crook of my neck. The pain eventually became a dull throb. The most delicious, thrilling sensation shot through me as he began moving his body desperately against mine. His fingers crept between my legs and when he pinched my nub I couldn't hold back my scream. Edward hit that spot deep inside with each thrust of his slick body. Tears pooled in my eyes as I felt the familiar twisting sensation in the pit of my belly. It was that familiar burn only Edward could ignite.

"Tell me again," he demanded, running his tongue up my jawbone as his pace increased and he pounded against me. "Tell me, Bella."

"I love you," I cried, running my hands through his hair and drawing him in for a kiss.

Edward's wet forehead fell against mine. We stared into each other's eyes, panting, thrusting, hurting, burning, slick with sweat, possessing one another.

I opened my mouth to cry out, but my cries of pleasure were drowned by his mouth covering my own. He licked and sucked at my lips, my tongue, and then pulled my face to his own chest. I latched on to his nipple, sucking and teasing him the way he teased me.

My fingers left his hair and landed on his hard, upper arms. My nails dug into his flesh as he shoved my knees up to my chest. The position spurred something deep inside me. He leaned back, and my head fell into the soft, white, willowy sheets.

Pushing my knees further to my chest, he began thrusting harder, still stroking my sweet spot with his thumb. I heard him whisper something about stars right before I actually saw them, exploding behind my eyelids as tears streamed down the side of my face.

Edward's movements became slightly erratic and his body became tense. As I came down from my high, twitching, throbbing, and stinging, I watched his face, his beautiful face, drawn in concentration as his eyes locked on mine again.

The moment of his release was the most erotic thing I ever saw. His eyes bore down into mine and I saw it all: the pleasure, the pain, the past, the present, the future. Our bodies were locked together in that moment, and I knew without a doubt in my mind that our souls would never part, in this life nor the next. I'd never love anyone for the rest of my life they way I loved Edward in that moment.

~oOoOoOoOo~

Edward and I fell asleep, naked and sated, limbs tangled together. I awoke to the sight of an early morning sun, casting an orange glow over the murky waters of the river. The fog rolled across the water like a large, billowing ghost.

My fingers danced across Edward's lightly tan skin, ending near his ribs where I began wiggling them. He muttered and grumbled in his sleep. I stopped bothering him to study his face. I loved the way his long, dark eyelashes rested against his cheeks and his chest rose and fell between each breath.

My stomach fluttered while watching Edward, as though it were full of swirling butterflies. It was a strange feeling, one I'd never had before.

Eventually he awoke, meeting my curious gaze.

"Good morning," he murmured, yawning and planting a light kiss against my forehead. "You look even more beautiful in the morning light. How do you feel? Are you sore?"

"A little," I admitted, snuggling deeper against him. "It's not so bad, and completely worth it, but I think we should probably get dressed before Alice and Jasper see us."

He muttered his agreement. We slid from the bed and I wrapped the towel tightly around my body. Edward threw on his clothes and practically chased me, as I giggles,, up the stairs.

Minutes later, I found myself in his shower with my hands pressed against the glass as he gave me a repeat performance of his oral skills. I immediately returned the favor.

When we met Alice and Jasper downstairs, the two of us had stupid, happy grins on our faces.

"Ew, gag me," Alice groaned, rolling her eyes and shooting Jasper a side glance.

Jasper grinned in response, sliding a piece of toast and some bacon across the counter towards her.

We spent the rest of the day lounging around the Cullen house, chatting and kicking the guys asses on the Xbox. Alice and I laughed and teased the scowling boys each time we won, making sure to rub in the skills that Emmett and Benjamin blessed us with over the years.

Jasper mentioned taking a crack at Nana's safe, which he and Edward transported to the basement earlier that day. Edward dismissed the idea, suggesting the we have a lazy, relaxed day for once.

It was nearing sundown when my phone began to vibrate. I glanced at it curiously, expecting to see Kate or one of my other cousin's names flash across the screen. Instead, I saw Nana's face lit up and I hurriedly answered it, suddenly worried that something was wrong.

"Bella, the mayor's wife is having some sort of fancy brunch tomorrow. She tried to bake a cake from scratch, but her cake fell!" my grandmother practically hollered in my ear.

"Uh, okay," I muttered, hiding out in the kitchen so she couldn't hear the laughing boys in the background."How is that my problem?"

"She called and asked if we could make her a cake at the last minute," Nana explained breathlessly. "She wants it delivered tonight because she has some last minute errands to run for the party in the morning. There's a cake already iced in the fridge at the shop. I need you to stop by, decorate it, and drop it off at her house. The van keys are hanging by the door as usual."

"Why can't Kate decorate and deliver the cake?" I groaned.

"Probably because I can't get her on the phone," Nana grunted. "Felix and Maggie said she was out with some friends. She never answers the phone for me."

"Fine, Nana," I grumbled, knowing Kate was probably out with Garrett.

I listened as she gave me detailed instructions on how the mayor's wife wanted the cake. After ending the call, I wandered into the living room where Alice sat, perched in Jasper's lap as the two of them smiled and talked quietly to one another. Edward sat nearby, gazing at them with a relaxed smile on his face. When he saw me lingering nearby he frowned.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nana called and needs me to stop by the shop to decorate and deliver a cake," I replied. "It's for the mayor's wife. She wants it tonight and is paying extra to have it delivered."

"Fine. I'll go with you," he said, standing and stretching, exposing the sliver of skin near his waist, the deep-cut V, and a thin happy trail that made me weak in the knees.

"No, you stay here. It's not dark yet and you know the shop is on Main Street. What if Jacob sees you with me?" I argued.

"I'm not letting you leave here without me," he told me in a no-nonsense tone, glaring at me. "Not with Jacob Black out there."

"And risk getting caught during daylight? The sun hasn't even set yet! You, Garrett, and Jasper have already put us in enough danger, gallivanting around in broad daylight like a bunch of idiots chasing after us," I finally snapped, grabbing my keys. "I can't tell my grandmother 'no.' She can read me like a book! She'll know if I lie about why I can't make the cake. I'll be back after I deliver it to the mayor's house, alright?"

Edward's eyes narrowed in on mine but he didn't argue.

"Alice, are you riding with me or staying here?" I asked.

Alice paid me no attention as she was currently playing kissy-face with Jasper. I huffed, leaving my sister behind.

Hopping in my Jeep, I peeled out of the driveway, glancing in the rearview mirror. Edward's reflection stared back at me from where he stood on the porch. I knew I was taking a risk by being alone, but he couldn't stay with me twenty-four seven, not without being caught. I shoved the discomfort of being separated from him aside. I crossed the long, gray bridge just as the last of the daylight slowly slipped away.

~oOoOoOo~

Being alone in the cake shop at night was creepy. The building was bathed in darkness, and deathly silent. I flipped every light on when I first entered the store, but felt incrediably exposed as I stood in the cake shop, illuminated against the soft pink walls for anyone on the outside to see.

Shaking the irrational shivers from my body, I quickly flipped off all the lights in the shop except for the one in the back room. Grumbling and cursing the major's wife below my breath, I feverishly, yet carefully, rolled white fondant over the island with my confectioner's sugar-coated rolling pin until it was the perfect size.

After tucking it over the rolling pin, I gently draped it over the pre-iced cake, and smoothed out any bubbles with my hands. I trimmed the excess fondant from the cake and began decorating the surface with loopy, black icing flowers, just as the mayor's wife requested.

Grabbing a small, thin brush, I stroked the icing petals inward, smearing the icing inside each petal all wispy and whimsical. The last thing she requested was a large 'J' written in elegant scroll across the top of the cake. The silver icing tip swirled around the top of the cake as I concentrated on making the letter as flawless as I could. Alice would have made it prettier, and I couldn't wait until Nana uplifted her 'no decorating' rule.

When the cake was finished, I stood back and silently regarded it. It was simple, yet elegant. Pretty without being ostentatious. I prayed the mayor and his wife found it agreeable. Lord knows my grandmother would stroke out if the blessed mayor found one of our creations unsatisfactory.

I grabbed a large, white, unfolded box from a stack near the front of the store. After bending it into shape, I carefully lifted the heavy cake and placed it inside the box, taping the lid securely shut. I opened the back door and propped it open with the wooden wedge my grandmother kept there for that very purpose.

Walking out into the side alley I glanced around, the hair on the back of my neck standing up. Darkness had set in, and the only light in the alley was from a small, yellow light that burned dimly near the shop door.

Shaking the strange feeling away once more, I shuffled over to the van and pulled the back doors open. The sound of scuffling footsteps and a soft voice nearby caused me to squeak out and jerk around. My eyes darted back and forth over the dark alley and the main street just ahead.

Nothing. There were no more scuffling footsteps, no soft voice. I pressed my hand over my hammering heart and took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. I darted back inside the cake shop, in record time, and grabbed the cake.

By that point I didn't give a damn if the cake was damaged, the icing smeared, or even if I dropped the damn thing. Being alone with Jacob Black lurking around was giving me the heebie jeevies. I was way too paranoid for my own good.

I shoved the cake in the back of the van, glanced around once more, and slammed the van doors shut. I turned the lights off in the shop and locked up.

The driver's side door was barely open when I felt the first blow.

A large, meaty fist slammed into my right temple, throwing me against the open van door. The action of the blow snapped my head sideways, and a resounding crack of my head slamming against the door glass caused my vision to go black. Tears sprang to my eyes and my hands fumbled for something, anything to grab to prevent me from slipping to the dirty ground.

My searching for stability as I blindly slipped to the ground was in vain. Two large hands found their way beneath my arms, hoisting me up on my weakened legs. The dark clouds faded from my vision as I was shoved against the cracked leather seat of the van. Struggling to turn around, I met my attacker face to face.

Jacob Black stood before me, dressed in his police uniform. The gun he used to point at Kate rested against his hip. He wore an amused grin on his face and reached behind him.

My breathing picked up at the action, unsure of what he could be reaching for. The pain from being slammed on both sides of my head shot through my brain, feeling like it was caught in a vise.

"You stupid bitch," Jacob chuckled, in a horrifyingly friendly tone. "I knew you couldn't keep away from Edward Cullen. Aro asked me to keep an eye on you. Turns out the rumors are true. I've got the evidence I need to prove it. I saw you crossing that bridge last night, you know. You, your whore sister, and your little boyfriends."

My mouth opened and closed several times as I struggled to deny his accusation, but my mind was hazy and thick, wracked with unbearable pain. Black spots drifted in and out of my vision and my stomach rolled in nausea.

"Don't try to deny it," he continued, removing a pair of silver handcuffs from behind his back. "You're a Cullen whore, just like your mother, aren't you? A pathetic Cullen whore."

Suddenly, I prayed that I'd pass out because there was no denying what Jacob was planning to do to me. Lust and anger gleamed in his eyes as his gaze bore into me. There was no strength left in me to fight the monster of a man. He dangled the silver handcuffs on one finger teasing, menacingly. They shone beneath the yellow glow of the alleyway light.

Willing myself to be strong, I raised my head, ignoring the tremendous pain. I wobbled on my feeble legs, raising my arms up to defend myself. My ears were ringing and my equilibrium was all out of whack. Jacob laughed menacingly as I sluggishly formed my hands in two balled fists.

"I think I'll have a little fun with you before I show Aro the video I have of you and your slut sister crossing that bridge," he drawled, roughly grabbing my protesting hands and clamping the handcuffs tightly around my wrists. "That and all the other shit I have on you Cullen whores. How does that sound, Bella? Would you like to have a little fun first? I'm going to show you what the touch of a real man feels like."

Adrenaline pumped through my veins. My pulse escalated, sending the ringing in my ears into overdrive. I began beating Jacob against his huge chest. He laughed as I dizzily hit and kicked at him. The black spots floated away and my body went into a frenzy, panicking as he gripped my wrists, pressing me harshly against the side of the van.

"Stop!" I cried, terrified of what I knew was about to come.

Jacob forced his mouth upon mine, shoving his tongue against my clamped lips. I twisted my head back and forth, struggling to draw my face away from his.

Jacob grew frustrated at my feeble attempt to fight him off. With one hand he grasped my cuffed wrists. His other hand descended on my face, cupping my chin in his sweaty fingers.

"Stop fighting me," he hissed, squeezing my face, pressing his nails into my skin. "You won't win."

I opened my mouth to scream. Jacob took advantage, forcing his tongue inside my mouth while he held my hands down. Tears formed in my eyes from pain and humiliation.

Jacob pulled his lips away, probably anticipating the feeling of my teeth as I planned to bite his tongue. I took that opportunity to scream, just as he shoved one hand between my legs and angrily groped me.

I wished I'd passed out. I wished I'd closed my eyes. But I didn't. I couldn't. My eyes were drawn over past Jacob to a set of smoldering eyes. They were a sparkling green in the daylight, but at that moment they were as black as a cobra's.

Edward hissed Jacob's name. Jacob twisted around just as Edward viscously slammed his fist into Jacob's right jaw. Edward hit him with such force that I heard an audible snapping sound. Jacob's head flung to the side and he hit the van window, just as I had. Blood smeared across the glass as Jacob's face slid across the door.

Standing, Jacob sneered and cursed, drawing his fists together. Jacob threw a punch, which Edward gracefully dodged, leaning back swiftly on his heels. Jacob staggered from the force of the swing. Edward took the opportunity to grasp Jacob's head between his hands. Edward took his head, jerking it down while simuntaneoudly slamming his knee into Jacob's face. With each thrust Edward screamed.

"Don't!"

Slam.

"You!"

Slam.

"Ever!"

Slam.

"Touch!"

Slam.

"Bella!"

Jacob groaned. Blood poured from his nose, which was broken and twisted.

Edward had a wild, feral look about him. His nostrils were flared and his eyes were round and black.

Jacob swayed dizzily, but somehow regained his footing and stood at his full height. Jacob towered over him menacingly. Jacob threw himself against Edward, slamming him into the brick wall of the shop.

In a panic, I ran to the back of the van, fumbling around with the handles, cursing the handcuffs still attached to my wrists. My shaky fingers finally pried the doors open and I searched the back of the van for something, anything to help Edward. My eyes landed on a tire iron.

Grasping the tire iron between my hands, I turned, awkwardly tossing it with my restrained hands across the alley where the two men scuffled. It hit the brick wall and made a loud metallic clanging sound, drawing both men's attention.

They scrambled for the tire iron, but Edward was quicker, more lithe.

If I would have shut my eyes, I'd never have seen Edward raise the tire iron he held in his hands. I'd never have seen the recognition and terror in Jacob Black's dark eyes. I wouldn't have to live the rest of my life with the memory of Edward's scowl twisting into an evil grin as he swung the tire iron through the air, striking Jacob across the right temple. I would have never heard the crunch of metal against bone. I would have never known the feeling of metallic-smelling blood as it sprayed from the side of Jacob's head and splashed across my face. I would never have seen Jacob's eyes roll back in his head as he slumped to the ground, with blood and brain matter dripping from one side of his head. I would have definitely not heard my own horrific screams sounding out through the silent night.

But I did see it. I saw it all and more. My screams faded away into quiet, hysterical gasps as Edward dropped the heavy tire iron, stooped down, and grasped Jacob's head between his hands. With a strong jerk, Edward twisted Jacob's head. A resounding snapping sound filled the dead air, and that's when my body decided I should lose my lunch all over Jacob Black's limp, unmoving form.

I broke down, turning my body away from where Jacob lay, and gasped for breath. Tears continued to stream from my eyes as I spit, and shook in horror. A soft touch to the small of my back caused me to whimper in fear.

"It's okay, Sugar," Edward whispered, pulling my sobbing, shaking body into his arms. "I've got you now. Edward's got you, okay? Did he hurt you, Baby?"

"No," I whispered, pressing my wet face against his hard chest as he stroked my hair. "You followed me."

"Of course I followed you," he whispered. "Did you really think I'd let you wander off alone? I parked my car and heard a noise coming from the alley. It's a good thing I did follow you."

"What...what do we do now?" I asked in a quivering voice.

"Get him out of here," he told me, soft and firm. "I know you're upset, but we need to get him out of here in case someone heard us. Things will get ugly if Billy Black shows up."

Edward searched Jacob's body, pulling a set of keys from his limp form and using them to release the handcuffs from my wrists. I rubbed the soreness from them as Edward cleaned the cuffs and keys with the hem of his shirt, returning them to the body as he did so.

"Jacob attacked me," I mumbled. "It was self-defense. Maybe the police will believe us."

"No one will believe us," he whispered, pulling me away from his body and staring deeply into my tear-filled eyes. "You know that no one will believe us. Not with Billy Black in charge. I've got to get rid of this body."

"I'm going with you," I insisted, glancing at the alleyway and into the deserted street. "We do this together."

Edward gazed down at me and slowly nodded. Stepping back, he removed his fitted black shirt from his body. His muscles rippled and stretched as he brought it over his head. I stared at him dumbly as he wadded the shirt up and began swiping it across my face. Jacob's red blood faded into the black fabric. I grew queasy again, but swallowed the bile that threatened to come up. Edward glanced at the alleyway once more and pulled open the back doors of the van.

"What are you doing?" I gasped.

"I can't back my car in here," he explained, shoving the cake to the far corner of the van. "Someone might notice me backing in. I'm already taking a chance parked down the street. Jacob must have snuck down the alley from the back. That's why I didn't see him."

"We're taking him in my grandmother's van?" I whispered, aghast.

"Do you have a better idea, Bella?" he asked with a half smirk, half frown.

He was so calm, so casual, as though killing another human being was nothing. My skin crawled in an odd, unfamiliar way.

Edward dug around in the back of the van and removed a pink blanket that someone had left in there. He tossed it carelessly over one shoulder and removed his cell phone from his pocket. I listened as he quietly chatted with someone on the phone before he shoved it in his pocket and proceeded to wrap Jacob's body in the blanket.

I shook myself out of my trance and bent down, helping him wrap the body. He tried to shoo me away, but I glared at him, took a deep breath, and shoved the blanket over Jacob's swollen, bloated face, hiding his wide, fixed, startled eyes.

"Walk to the end of the alley," Edward grunted, rolling Jacob over in the blanket with my futile assistance. "Make sure the coast is clear. I'll get him in the back of the van."

"Can you pick him up by yourself?" I asked warily, gazing down at lumpy pink blanket hiding a hulk of a man.

"Can you be any more insulting?" he asked, shooting me a smoldering grin.

How someone could manage to be sexy at a time like that was beyond me.

"Fine," I huffed, unconvinced, as I stood and quickly darted to the end of the alley facing the street.

It was well after eight o'clock and the town was dead. There were no cars, no movement, except for a stray dog wandering around looking for some scraps to eat. Turning around, I stared in awe as Edward hoisted the lumpy pink form almost effortlessly, tossing it over one shoulder and then into the back of the van. He tossed the tire iron in the back as well.

After wiping his hands on his jeans, he quietly closed the double doors of the van and turned to face me.

Our eyes locked. I stood at one end of the alley, my heart pounding in my chest, dried blood smeared across my cheeks. Edward stood near the van, shirtless, his chest shining beneath the alley light. An indescribable emotion passed between the two of us as we were wrapped up in our unrelenting stare. He'd murdered a man. He'd murdered a man because of me.

The sound of a rumbling engine creeping down the road broke us from our trance. I ran to where Edward stood, but he'd already jumped in the van.

"Go inside and clean yourself up," he instructed, slumping down in the seat as a lone car passed the alley, drifting down the main street. "We've got to get out of here."

I nodded, stumbling to the door and digging the keys from my pocket. Once inside I scrubbed the blood from my face and arms, ignoring the mirror over the sink until I was satisfied the blood was gone.

Glancing up, I found the terrified brown eyes of a girl who looked much younger than eighteen. My fingers pressed tenderly against the side of my head where Jacob shoved me against the van. I hissed in pain. Luckily, most of the damage I endured was well past my hairline. There was no bruising to my face yet, but I knew the bruises would eventually arise. To the casual observer I didn't look any different. Averting my eyes, I quickly dried the excess water from my trembling hands and darted to the front of the shop. A rack of t-shirts stood in one corner, advertising the logo of Nana's cake shop.

I snatched one from the rack and replaced the bloody one with a clean one. After grabbing a t-shirt for Edward as well, I locked up the cake shop. I slid into the van beside Edward, tossed him the clean shirt, and threw mine in the floor beside his bloody one.

"This is perfect, really," he mused, pulling the shirt over his naked flesh. "The perfect alibi. You were delivering a cake to the mayor. At least no one will suspect you know anything about Jacob Black's disappearance once they arrest me."

"Arrest you?" I turning the key in the ignition.

I was too nervous to drive, but there was no other option. Edward couldn't pull the van up to the major's house. As it was, he'd have to hide somewhere in the back of the van.

"Who knows what Jacob has on me," Edward said with a careless shrug as we pulled out of the alley and he slumped lower in his seat. "He's been watching us, gathering evidence to take to Aro. I'm sure he's got all kinds of shit on me."

"We have to find out," I muttered."He has evidence on Alice, Kate, and me as well. He said as much when he attacked me."

Edward's face twisted as he took in my pensive expression. My mind was racing, forging an idea to find out just how much Jacob Black had on me, Edward, and his family.

Edward didn't question me. He simply remained slumped down in the van, hiding behind the tinted windows of the eighties-style vehicle. Emmett always joked that it was a pedophile's van because it was old, white in color, and announced sweets on the side. It was not what you'd call a 'discreet' vehicle.

Edward crawled into the backseat of the van as I pulled into the mayor's long driveway. A two-story red brick house stood proudly at the top of the hill. The drive was lined in thin, black, old-fashioned street lamps.

I pulled around in the circular drive and hopped out of the van, scurrying to the back to remove the cake before the mayor or his wife realized I was out front. I ignored the large, pink, blood-soaked form in the far corner of the van as I grabbed the cake, carefully balancing it in my arms.

"Bella!" I heard a chirpy voice call, just as I slammed the van door behind me using my butt.

Mayor Jones' wife descended the front steps of the brick monstrosity of a house. Her size six stilettos clacked against the concrete driveway as she bounced towards me, and when I say 'bounced,' I mean 'bounced.' Jennifer Jones' synthetically enhanced boobs jiggled in her tight, low-cut shell- colored blouse, and her high-dollar, blonde dye-job bounced as well.

She had a typical Southern sophisticate look about her: perfectly teased hair, flawless makeup, a tan that should have been sun-kissed, but probably came from her own personal tanning bed. Jennifer wasn't much older than me; probably around twenty-two. Mayor Jones was forty-four.

"Thank you so much for doing this on short notice, Bella!" she exclaimed as I shuffled away from the back of the van with the cake clutched in my hands.

Jennifer stumbled behind me on her ridiculously high heels as I put on a nonchalant facade. She chatted in a friendly tone about her activities the next day as we climbed the steps. I put on an interested face, smiling and nodding occasionally.

Mayor Jones greeted me in the foyer with a broad grin. He always seemed to be a genuinely nice man, but he was also on very friendly terms with my uncles, which was a black mark against him, at least in my book.

I made small talk with the mayor and his young wife, using the opportunity to soak up as much time in their home as I could. Edward's comment of an alibi played in my mind. What better alibi than standing in the mayor's house, chatting with him and his wife, as though there wasn't a dead man wrapped in a cheap, pink blanket in the back of my grandmother's van, sitting twenty feet from his front door?

"I hope you have a wonderful time at the benefit tomorrow," I told Jennifer, reaching out and giving her a half-hug, breathing in the scent of Chanel. "I'm sorry your cake fell flat, but I know Nana is tickled pink to have your business."

"Oh, I just love Nana Swan!" she gushed, giving me a squeeze before releasing me. "Such a fine Christian woman with a heart of gold!"

I nodded, biting my tongue and fighting the urge to roll my eyes. If it weren't for the dead man in the driveway, I'd probably have made some sort of snotty remark below my breath, but my mind was slightly preoccupied.

I gave them both a casual wave as they walked me to the front door. They stood in the doorway and watched me pull myself up into the large van. I fired up the engine and pulled down the long, winding drive and onto the main road. Once we were far from the mayor's house, Edward's head popped up from the backseat and I squeaked in surprise.

"You did good, Sugar," he assured me in a calming voice. "Jasper, Garrett, and the girls are meeting us at Miller's Crossing."

"Miller's Crossing," I repeated in a mumble.

Miller's Crossing was an old, wooden bridge hidden in the deep hollers near the Tenn-Tom. The bridge was inaccessible because of the broken and missing planks of wood that had rotted away over dozens of years. It was a popular crossing over the river, back in the good old days, in a time before the forging of the concrete bridge. I hadn't thought of Miller's Crossing in years.

I steered the van down the old roads beneath the low-lying branches of the trees hanging overhead. It was obvious that the dirt road near the crossing hadn't been used in a great length of time, and that thought alone made me breath a sigh of relief.

We pulled up to the failing bridge, and I noticed Alice standing near Jasper's truck, tucked in his arms. Kate had come out of hiding and was leaning against Garrett's truck with a look of vengeful determination on her face.

In her hand was a pair of bolt-cutters, silver with a red handle.

"What's that for?" I asked her, slipping from the van and quietly closing the door.

Kate pushed herself from the truck, shooting me an evil grin. Garrett and Jasper exchanged a strange glance as she approached the van, passing Edward, and yanking open the back doors.

"This, my dear cousin," she sneered, jerking back the pink blanket and grabbing Jacob's stiff, right arm. "Is revenge and a warning all rolled into one bloody package."

My stomach rolled and I averted my eyes as Kate grasped Jacob's right index finger. I pressed my hands tightly over my ears, just as the sound of metal against bone cracked in the still night.

My gaze was trained on Edward's face. He looked a little surprised, and then disturbingly pleased, as he watched my cousin. I took a chance, glancing over to where Kate stood with a bloody finger in her hand. I slowly dropped my hands from my ears, feeling my stomach clench once more.

"You won't be needing your trigger finger now," Kate scowled at the dead man, wrapping his finger up in a red bandana that Garrett handed her. "Asshole."

"Why did you do that?" I gasped.

"I'm putting it in Aro's mailbox," Garrett said with a grin, taking the bandana from Kate's bloody hands. "Kate's idea. He's not working with a full deck of cards, but it won't take a rocket scientist to figure out who's finger this is. Let it be a warning to him that he can't mess with us, or our girls, and get away with it."

Garrett, Jasper, and Edward pulled Jacob's body from the back of the van. Kate, Alice, and I followed them through the trees, downhill beside the dilapidated bridge.

The moon hung low in the sky, the moonbeams streaking through the branches, casting a glow on the pink blanket with Jacob's corpse inside. Our feet slid down the steep hill, sliding against the fallen leaves and broken twigs.

The boys carried the body beneath the bridge and unwrapped it as Kate, Alice, and I stood silently beside one another. I felt Kate's hand reach out and grasp mine.

Glancing down, I saw our two hands intertwined, hers slightly red with dried blood. We met each other's gaze and Kate squeezed my hand, emphasizing the intensity of the situation. I reached out and grasped Alice's hand as well, giving it the same firm squeeze as we stared at one another somberly. We were in it together. It was a big old heap of a mess, but it was our mess.

The boys unwrapped Jacob's body, and I turned my head as they tossed it into the muddy water where the rickety wooden beams of the bridge stood sorrowfully in the water. There was a thick splashing sound. A slight ripple of waves traveled against the lightly churning river, ending near our feet.

When I glanced back up it was just in time to see a set of glowing red eyes gracefully sliding through the murky water. Before long, two more sets joined in. A vicious splash and a thick, flinging, dark tail streaked across the dark water as the alligators tore into Jacob's flesh.

The sound of snapping, crushing bones, intermingled with the splashing of river water, would haunt my dreams for years to come.

"One dead, he really bled. Two to go, they'll die real slow," a slow, voice drawled in a strange, childlike drawl.

Alice's hand went limp in my own before falling from my grasp. Kate and I turned to gaze at her big, black eyes, shining wickedly in the moonlight. A chill shot through me as her wild eyes greedily watched the alligators consume Jacob Black's broken body, and I knew...I knew it'd only just begun.

* * *

In DSDW all virgins get their 0 the first time and Edward will always have a monster C.

Beta'd by AliCat0623 who vamps out on me from time to time.

I'm too tired from working night shift to give proper shout-outs to some great readers and their wonderful ideas on Jacob's demise! ! You know who you are!  
Especially loving me some 'Missy' who found THE DSDW song. I have to say, it's perfect. One of my faves. If you'd like to hear the DSDW song it is called Johnny and June and sang by Heidi Newfield.

So what did you think? I tried to leave some questions behind. Do you have any questions? Anything?

Review and let me know!

Peace and Love,

Jhood


	15. Chapter 15: Devil's Playground

_Previously, in Chapter Fourteen..._

_When I glanced back up it was just in time to see a set of glowing red eyes gracefully sliding through the murky water. Before long two more sets joined in. A vicious splash and a thick, flinging, dark tail streaked across the dark water as the alligators tore into Jacob's flesh. _

_The sound of snapping, crushing bones, intermingled with the splashing of river water would haunt my dreams for years to come. _

"_One dead, he really bled. Two to go, they'll die real slow," a soft, voice drawled in a strange, low croak._

_Alice's hand went limp in my own before falling from my grasp. Kate and I turned to gaze at her big, black eyes, shining wickedly in the moonlight. A chill shot through me as her wild eyes greedily watched the alligators consume Jacob Black's broken body and I knew...I knew it'd just begun._

* * *

_Hell is empty and all the devils are here._

_~William Shakespeare_

**Chapter Fifteen: Devil's Playground**

"Are you afraid of me now?" Edward whispered in a worried tone, joining me where I stood and pressing a feather-light kiss against my cheek. "I'd never hurt_ you_. You know that, right?

"I'm not afraid of you," I responded with a sigh. "I'm afraid of what's going to happen. I'm afraid of getting caught and losing you because of it."

"No one's getting caught," he told me with one last kiss as he walked away and removed the tire iron from the back of the van. "There's no time to stand around and chat. We need to return this van and get rid of the evidence."

I was terrified to return the van to the side alley beside Nana's shop. Jacob's dead body had been laying in the back long enough to soak the carpet with a small amount of blood. After dumping him in the river, Edward, Garrett, and Jasper ripped up the carpet until there was nothing left in the back but bare metal.

"What are you going to do with the carpet?" I asked Edward as he, Jasper, and Garrett rolled the carpet up.

"Burn it," he replied, tossing the carpet into the back of Garrett's truck. "Does your grandmother use the van enough to notice it missing before I can replace it?"

"No," I replied, tugging worriedly on a strand of hair. "The only ones who use the van are me, Kate, and Emmett, but there's no deliveries scheduled until next week."

"I'll have your carpet replaced before then," he said in a calm, sure voice. "I'm taking the tire iron with me. Carlisle will know what to do with it. I'd dump it in the river if I wasn't concerned they might drag it eventually, once the police realize Jacob's not coming back. After we leave here we'll drop the van off in the alley and head back to my house."

"No," my sister piped up, gaining our attention.

Alice was leaning against the van with her arms crossed over her chest. The haunting expression was gone and in its place was one of stubbornness.

"Everyone is going to freak out when they realize Jacob is gone," my sister elaborated. "Billy Black is very close to our family. There's no telling who might show up at our house over the next few days. Nana might show up wanting to gossip about it. Aro might show up, if Jacob was being honest about following us under his direction. Hell, Billy Black himself might show up investigating things. He'll tear the town apart looking for evidence over his only son's disappearance. We have to separate ourselves from one another for a little while."

"No," Edward told her with blazing eyes, pulling me to his side and tucking me under his arm. "I'm not leaving Bella."

"Then you'll be the death of her," Alice shrugged, pushing herself off the van and wandering to where Jasper stood. "Believe it or not, I have an uncanny ability to sense things. Rarely do I disappoint."

Alice tapped the side of her head with a wicked grin. My skin crawled at her words. Kate and I exchanged solemn, knowing glances. My fingers found their way into my hair and I tugged at it anxiously.

"She's right," I told Edward hesitantly. "We should separate, just for a little while. Everyone will be searching for Jacob. Y'all can't be gallivanting around Mayhaw the way you have the past few weeks. It's not safe for you or us. You'll only draw suspicion to yourself, Garrett, and Jasper."

"I don't like leaving you," Edward hedged, pulling me against his firm body and placing a dazzling kiss on my lips. "I don't care what you or your sister says. I won't be far from you at all."

I didn't doubt his words.

After Kate and I returned the van, without incident, to the side alley, we met back up with the rest of the gang. The six of us found ourselves on a dusty back-road staring at Jacob Black's shitty little red house with intentions of breaking and entering.

The boys were convinced that Jacob's threat wasn't to be taken lightly. Alice, Kate, and I served as a look-out of sorts while Edward, Garrett, and Jasper broke into Jacob's house, searching for any evidence Jacob might have on us or the Cullens.

Episodes of CSI and NCIS flashed through my mind. I voiced my concerns over fingerprints and DNA evidence to Edward. He smirked, shook his head in amusement, and assured me that they'd be careful. He was careless that way. I only hoped it wouldn't bite him in the ass in the end.

The boys shimmied into the house through an unlocked back window. Alice, Kate, and I sat in Garrett's truck on the side of that desolate road, anxiously awaiting their return.

Edward, Garrett, and Jasper searched high and low, but found nothing in Jacob's house besides the typical bachelor mess. If he had the evidence he claimed he had on my family and the Cullens, it wasn't in that little red house.

Alice and I begrudgingly parted ways with Kate and the boys. When we arrived home I pulled a frozen bag of peas from the freezer, pressed it against the side of my swollen temple, and somehow fell into a restless sleep.

My dreams were filled with memories of Jacob's hands touching my body, his fist slamming against my skull, alligators tearing at his flesh. I woke up screaming with a thawed bag of peas beneath my head. Alice was tangled in the sheets beside me, staring solemnly into my terrified eyes. It was obvious by her haggard appearance she'd had no sleep.

After her vain attempt with comforting words, Alice left for work without me. She was lying for me, telling my grandmother I had a stomach bug. Nana would believe Alice. Not showing up for work was a rare thing for me to do, and it was always for legit reasons.

After clambering out of bed, I stared into the bathroom mirror horrified by what I saw. The bag of peas had helped with the swelling on the side of my face, but left an ugly red rash in its wake. My fingertips brushed against the icy burn. The skin there was numb and rough.

Taking a deep breath, I stumbled downstairs and dug around in the medicine cabinet until I found a bottle of ibuprofen sleep-type medicine. I popped four, just for good measure, returned one of Edward's fifteen texts, and soon passed out on the couch.

Through the darkness I felt gentle fingers probing at my swollen face. The touch was soothing and familiar. I smiled, drifting through a foggy haze of sleep medicine. I believed I was dreaming until I felt Edward's sweet, warm breath as his lips brushed against my cheek.

"You can't be here," I muttered, fighting to open my eyes.

My eyes felt as though they were glued shut. My head felt thick and lethargic.

"I had to check on you," he whispered. "I had to make sure you were okay. I'm leaving now, before Alice gets home. She's crazy, and crazy people have super human strength. She might just be the first person to ever whip my ass."

I laughed at his silly words. The jarring from the laughter made my head throb and swell. Groaning, I was pulled back to sleep, thankfully with no further dreams of Jacob Black.

I fully awoke in the middle of the night. Alice was sitting beside me on the couch staring at the blue, blank screen of the TV. I sat up a bit groggy and disoriented. My sister turned her head and gave me a small smile.

"You look better," she said, drawing her small knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs. "How do you feel?"

"Like damnit," I admitted, wondering briefly if Edward's presence was real or simply a dream.

"Nana's completely unconcerned about you," my sister said with a joking grin. "She's obsessed over the Jacob Black disappearance, just like the rest of the town is."

"Oh, Lord!" I gasped, shooting up on the couch. "What's going on? Does anyone suspect anything? Have you seen Billy Black?"

"Calm down, Chris Brown," she cracked, rolling her eyes. "No one's the wiser. Everyone is going a little kooky. Just wait until you get back to work."

"Ugh, I dread it," I whispered. "I know I have to go back as soon as the swelling and bruising goes down. I'm going to worry myself to death until then."

"Find something to do," Alice suggested, pushing herself up from the couch. "You know what Nana says. Idle hands are the devil's playground."

Alice was right. I knew exactly what I could busy myself doing. Unfortunately, it was something the devil himself would probably approve of.

~o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o~

Bam! Ping!

Round one.

Bam! Ping!

Round two.

Bam! Ping!

Round three.

"Bella!" Alice barked as I stared down the glinting barrel of our father's gun.

"What?" I muttered, cocking the gun once more.

My feet were parted shoulder-width wide. My arms were locked in front of me, grasping the now familiar cool, metal weapon. The hot, summer sun beat down upon my bare shoulders, sending hot sweat rolling down my back, tickling my skin along the way.

The poor, empty Coke cans that I'd collected over the days didn't stand a chance. They were lined up on an weathered, fading white wooden fence behind the pool house. The red cans gleamed in the sunlight before exploding into a metallic, tattered mess each time I gently squeezed the trigger of my daddy's gun. Rare was it that I missed.

"I've said your name three times!" Alice huffed.

I ignored her and squeezed the trigger once more. BAM! Ping! I was brought closer and closer to a sense of self-satisfaction and smugness each time a bullet tore through a shimmering can, sending it spinning through the air. The next time someone attacked me, I'd be fully prepared.

"Mama called," Alice stated in a much softer, less irritating voice.

Now_ that_ got my attention. The gun slowly came down. I shoved the metal safety with my thumb and turned to my sister. Alice stood there with a frown on her face and a manicured thumbnail shoved in the corner of her mouth.

"What did she want?" I grunted, turning away to retrieve the fallen cans.

A plastic grocery sack that I'd stored the cans in hung from a nail wedged in the fence. I grabbed the sack, shoving each destroyed can in the bag as I waited for my sister to elaborate.

"I don't know what she wanted, she just said she needed to talk to you," Alice snickered. "You were out here playing Bella Badass. I knew she'd want to know what all the racket was if I brought the phone outside."

"I'll call her when I'm finished," I muttered. "Maybe."

Alice heaved a great sigh. There was a light dusting of shadows beneath both eyes, and her skin was paler than usual. The typical sparkle in her cocoa eyes had dimmed into a muted nothing. She shoved her tiny fingers through her long, black hair before turning and trudging slowly up the hill to our house. Alice's shoulders were slumped and her head hung low. She was a picture of exhaustion and worry.

I knew exactly how she felt. I felt it too. We'd been consumed with nothing but guilt and worry since Jacob Black's demise.

After locking Daddy's gun and the ammo back in his safe, I called my flighty mother. I hadn't spoken to her in a good couple of months. She answered breathlessly on the second ring.

"Bella!" she squealed happily.

My eyes narrowed instantly at her suspiciously cheerful voice. Alice sat at the bar on a stool with wide, vulnerable eyes as she blatantly eavesdropped on our conversation.

"Hey, Mama," I said with an airy, sarcastic lilt to my voice.

"Sweetie, there's been a mix-up," my mother said patiently, ignoring my sarcasm and getting straight to the point.

I should have known she'd have no room for friendly conversation. Our mother wasn't the type to make small talk with either of her two children she hadn't laid eyes on in weeks.

"What sort of mix-up?" I inquired, turning back to my sister and locking my confused eyes with hers.

"Listen, Sweetie," she cooed. "They've cut back on our hours at the hospital here, and I'm a little desperate for cash. I called the Social Security Office and had Alice's check transferred in my own checking account a while back, but this month it isn't in there. I need you to call and tell them to transfer the check into my account, just until I get back up on my feet."

The ground fell out from beneath me. That was why our checking account was so short the previous month. I pulled the phone away from my ear and hit the speaker button, placing it lightly on the counter and leaning down until my mouth hovered over it.

"Is that why our checking account was so short last month, Mama?" I innocently asked, gazing up at my statue of a sister. "Did you have Alice's check transferred into your own personal account last month? We really need that money to live on, Mama."

"Bella, I just told you that!" Mama finally snapped in that familiar, angry tone. "Why the hell must I repeat myself when it comes to you? You're so fucking stupid! Just like Charlie! You're selfish too! Your poor mother is in a jam and you can't even help her out!"

"In a jam?!" I screeched, dropping the innocent facade. "You left us here to fend for ourselves! Alice is a minor! If someone calls DHS, they'll have to come in and investigate. Won't you get in trouble for leaving your minor daughter alone in the care of her sister? I'm pretty sure that's illegal."

"Oh, you're both adults," Mama snapped. "Get over yourself and grow up, Bella. I expect that money in my checking account very soon."

I opened my mouth to argue, but she hung up. There was nothing left but dead air floating around. Alice was crying. Fat tears rolled down her cheeks. I reached out to console her, but she shrugged me away and darted upstairs.

Slumping on a nearby stool, I dropped my head in my hands and sighed. There was a part of me, hidden deep inside, that craved nothing but my mother's love, but I sincerely doubted I'd ever have it. We needed to talk soon, really talk, about our damaged mother-daughter bond. Living with the sadness and worry of our fragile relationship was emotionally draining. I couldn't live like this forever. I decided I'd speak with her face-to-face. I was going to Birmingham. Soon.

~o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o~

Alice was right. The town was in total uproar. Jacob wasn't missed until several hours after his actual disappearance, when he stopped responding to radio calls and didn't show up at the police station. Our sleepy little town wasn't what you would call a hotbed of criminal activity, at least, not on the surface. The disappearance of one of only a handful of cops was quite a story. Rumors spread around like wildfire. I'd heard everything from Jacob running off with a married woman to alien abduction. The people in our small town were nothing if not bored and over-imaginative.

Jacob's disappearance sent my gossiping grandmother into an old-lady frenzy. The cake shop phone rang off the hook all day long with the phone calls of her fellow gossiping friends. I finally banished her to her office because the way she was running around with the cordless phone pressed against her ear, flapping her gums around in excitement was completely exhausting.

"We should have stolen his damn police cruiser and dumped it in the river too," Kate muttered, shoving a cookie in her mouth.

"Yeah, because a bunch of kids driving a police cruiser around in the middle of the night isn't suspicious at all," I muttered with a sigh.

Kate rolled her eyes and brushed cookie crumbs from her bottom lip with the back of her hand. She'd acted entirely unremorseful since Jacob's death.

We'd somehow talked Garrett out of placing Jacob's severed finger in Aro's mailbox. Kate threw a damn hissy-fit over that disgusting appendage, desperate to place it in the mailbox. Edward claimed placing the finger in the mailbox would do more harm than good.

Kate settled down pretty quickly after Edward assured her she could keep the finger and do with it as she liked once we had the evidence we needed on Aro. The finger was currently being stored in an undisclosed location that only Garrett and Kate knew the whereabouts of.

"Jasper says he and Edward have been working day and night on getting into the safe," Alice whispered, glancing towards the back of the shop where Nana was holed up in her office. "I've given him every possible combination I can think of...birthdays, anniversaries. Nothing works."

"We have to get through Nana to get through the safe," Kate mumbled quietly as a group of whispering townsfolk walked into the cake shop.

Kate and I shuffled away from the front of the store, leaving Alice at the cash register. The timer on a cake I'd placed in the oven went off. After removing it from the oven and placing it on the cooling rack I joined Kate once again.

"What if go through her desk in the office?" I asked Kate. "Maybe she has something here or at her house with the combination on it."

"Or," Kate added with big, innocent, blue eyes. "We can tell her we murdered Jacob Black, cut off his finger for revenge, fed him to the alligators, and will do the same to her if she doesn't give us that combination. Do you think she'll take us seriously?"

"That's not funny, Kate!" I admonished, poking her in her ribs and setting her into a fit of giggles. "I swear, I can barely sleep at night! You act like what happened doesn't even bother you!"

"It doesn't," she carelessly shrugged, screwing a tip on an icing bag and plopping on a stool in front of a frosted cake. "I quit caring about that bastard the moment he pointed that gun at my face. You shouldn't care either."

"I can't help it, Kate," I grumbled. "I can't help feeling a little guilty. I have nightmares about that night...the things he did to me...the things he would have done if Edward hadn't shown."

"That should be solace enough to help you sleep at night," Kate sighed, turning the cake on the turntable as she swirled the icing around the base. "You'd be a rape victim and dead yourself if not for Edward. Screw Jacob Black and the horse he rode in on."

"Did someone say...'Jacob Black?'" an eerily kind voice asked.

Kate and I froze, then slowly turned our head to the doorway where our Uncle Aro stood. He leaned against the doorframe with Alice standing worriedly behind him, wringing her hands. Aro was eating an orange and was the perfect picture of relaxation as the juice flowed from the citrus fruit and rolled down his chin. Aro wiped the juice away with the back of his hand and shoved himself off the doorframe. His chocolate eyes danced mischievously as his gaze darted first from me and then to Kate.

"Hey, Aro," Kate yawned, dropping the surprise and turning back to the cake. "You have another orange with you? I'm freaking starving. Someone should call the labor board and report Nana. I haven't had a lunch break yet."

The turntable made an odd, screeching sound as Kate turned it and ignored the way Aro approached us. The air was stiff and thick with discomfort from the villain's presence. I calmly grabbed a bag of icing and joined Kate near the cake, placing it gently beside her. Aro's stare was on me. It penetrated the side of my face. I slowly glanced up and met his smiling eyes.

"Poor girls," he apologized, his stare never wavering away from mine. "You need a break too, I'm sure. It's been a very stressful few days."

"It has?" Kate asked innocently, finishing off the row of shells and dusting her hands off on her apron. "How so?"

"Oh, you know...all the excitement of Jacob Black's disappearance," Aro interjected, slowly walking up behind me. "It's enough to send everyone on edge."

"We didn't know Jacob very well," I told Aro in a steady, neutral voice, reaching behind me and tugging the strings of my apron. "I'm sorry that everyone is worried about him, but I barely knew him."

"Really? I remember the two of you making mud pies a couple of times when you were younger," Aro laughed with dark, flashing eyes. "You had a recent reunion as well. Am I right? On the side of a highway? On your way swimming, perhaps?"

In my peripheral I saw Alice freeze before shuffling away to the cash register. Willing my hands not to tremble, I avoided Kate's widened eyes. Removing my apron, I tossed it haphazardly on a nearby table.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, he did pull us over a few days ago," I mused, trying to tame my frenzied heart as I met Aro's amused smirk. "He really didn't give us good explanation as to why he pulled us over. I think he just wanted an excuse to pat me down."

"That sounds like old Jake," Aro laughed, shoving the last of the orange in his mouth and sucking the juice from his fingers. "He's mentioned, more than once, his desire to court you. Billy's worried about him, but I'm sure he's just off somewhere sowing his wild oats. Jake's always had a wild hair up his ass. Maybe when he shows back up you'll give that boy a chance."

"Sure!" I chirped happily in a sugary sweet voice with a smile on my face. "I'll be more than happy to go out with him."

"Atta girl!" Aro laughed, ruffling my hair with his sticky fingers. "Where's Ma at? In her office? We need to talk."

"Yes, sir," Kate replied, yawning again with a dull expression on her face. "She's in her office gossiping to other crypt keepers about the illustrious Jacob Black disappearance."

Aro cackled, ruffled my hair once more, and disappeared around the corner. I heard the office door open and his voice calling out a greeting to our grandmother before the door finally shut behind him. The indifferent expression quickly melted from my cousin's face. Alice entered the room, as quiet as a mouse, with eyes the size of saucers.

"How did he know about Jacob pulling..." Kate started, but I instantly pressed my forefinger to my lips, gesturing to the office door.

Kate and Alice nodding their understanding. The three of us crept to the office door, gently pressing our ears against the white-painted wood.

"I need that package I gave you a while back. The one I told you not to open," my uncle's muffled voice sounded out through the thick wood.

"Package? What package?" my grandmother's confused voice asked.

"The one I told you not to open," he replied, annoyed. "The large manila envelope. It's been a few years, but surely you remember it."

"I don't remember, my dear," my grandmother's breezy voice called out. "You know how forgetful I am. I'm old as dirt and dumb as a box of rocks."

"Think hard. You need to remember, Ma," Aro spoke in a low, threatening tone. "That envelope wasn't secure at my house, or anywhere else. You said you'd lock it up somewhere safe."

"Somewhere _safe_," my grandmother said in a slightly louder voice. "Somewhere_ safe_...give me a couple of days. I'm sure I'll remember where I stashed it."

"You better," Aro growled, with the sound of something metal scraping the floor.

Sensing the end of their conversation, the three of us scurried away from the door. Alice tripped on a chair in the adjoining room, hitting the floor with a loud thud. Kate hoisted her up and Alice sprang from the room, depositing herself calmly behind the register with a picture of boredom on her face.

I busied myself removing the cooled cake from the cake pan, cringing as the bottom of the strawberry concoction stuck to the pan and tore slightly. Aro slid from the back office, watching as I frowned at the partially destroyed cake.

"That's a nasty little bruise peeking out beneath your hairline," Aro mused, walking over to the sink.

My already racing heart picked up speed, thumping rapidly against my chest. My hand unconsciously reached up, pressing against my tender skull. I'd applied thick makeup over the area, and the swelling was completely gone. The bruise was barely noticeable, to anyone but Aro, I guessed.

"You girls be careful," Aro spoke in voice loud enough for my sister and cousin to hear as he turned on the faucet, washing his sugary hands in the sink. "Jacob Black's gone missing now. If a cop can disappear, I suppose just about anyone can."

Aro shot me a lopsided smile before drying his hands and strolling from the back of the shop. There was a whistle on his lips as he left. The bell hanging above the front door jangled as he disappeared outside. I visibly slumped in relief as his departure, leaning heavily on the table in front of me. Kate and Alice immediately joined me.

"He knows," Kate whispered, glancing at Nana's tightly shut door. "He knows that Jake pulled us over, and something tells me he knows we're involved in his disappearance. Plus, he brought up Bella's bruise."

"He doesn't know," Alice argued. "He was testing us, seeing if we'd crack under pressure. What do you think, Bella? Do you think he knows."

I didn't have a chance to respond. Nana's office door swung open and her petite form appeared in the doorway. Her worried, watery-blue eyes darted across our faces as we stood huddled near the crumbling cake staring at her. The color of her skin was pale and mottled in anxiety.

"Matthew ten, verses twenty-six through twenty-eight," her voice cracked as she grabbed her purse from beneath a shelf and shuffled to the back door.

"What are you talking about, Nana?" I asked, shaking my head in confusion.

"I'm feeling a bit woozy," she explained through pursed, pallid lips, avoiding my question. "I'm going home to lay down for a bit. Don't call me unless the building's on fire."

The door flung open in her small hands and she was gone, leaving nothing but a trail of old lady perfume in her wake. I heard her old Buick fire up in the side alley before peeling out onto the street.

"She's lost it," Kate muttered, sighing and running her fingers through her pale blonde hair.

I would have agreed, if not for the contemplative expression on my sister's face. Her bottom lip was drawn in her mouth as she chewed at the parched skin. There was a faraway look in her dim eyes that suddenly brightened as she gazed at us in excitement.

"The safe!" she whispered, bouncing on her heels. "The safe!"

"What about the safe?" I asked, gazing over her shoulder for any sign of a customer entering the shop.

"What if the Bible verse has something to do with the safe combination?" she asked, removing her phone from her back pocket and opening the internet app. "You heard her in the office...she kept saying 'safe' so loudly, almost as though she knew we were listening in. What if she dropped the Bible verse as a hint to us? I'm looking up the verse."

"Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known," Kate began, rolling her eyes at the way we stared at her in shocked wonder. "What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."

"What?" she scoffed, flipping her hair over one shoulder. "Stop gaping at me with your judgmental eyes. Just because I'm..._me_...doesn't mean I can't enjoy the Bible."

"No judgment," I assured her, throwing my hands up in mock surrender. "Just a little surprised is all."

"So, you think that chapter and those verses have something to do with the safe?" I asked my sister as she closed the internet app and opened the text messaging one. "Nana once told me that the things that are hidden will always come to light."

"Maybe it's not just the _verse_," my sister said in an excited whisper with twinkling brown eyes. "What if it's the chapter and verse _numbers_?"

"Ten, twenty-six, twenty-seven, and twenty-eight," Kate mused with a grin. "I think you may be right. Who are you texting?"

"I'm texting Jasper," Alice replied. "I think Nana just gave us the combination to her safe, girls."

We gazed at one another with round, excited eyes and I knew it was now just a matter of time, possibly hours, before we discovered the contents of that safe.

* * *

Rush-beta'd by AliCat0623. I own any mistakes ;)

Author search TwiHEAcontest. I may, or may not, have an entry here :) Check it out! Voting starts tomorrow, I think ;)

So, what about Renee? Aro? Nana? Are y'all ready to see what's in that safe?


	16. Chapter 16: Brother Against Brother

_Previously, in Chapter Fifteen..._

"_Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known," Kate began, rolling her eyes at the way we stared at her in shocked wonder. "What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."_

"_What?" she scoffed, flipping her hair over one shoulder. "Stop gaping at me with your judgmental eyes. Just because I'm...me...doesn't mean I can't enjoy the Bible."_

"_No judgment," I assured her, throwing my hands up in mock surrender. "Just a little surprised is all."_

"_So, you think that chapter and those verses have something to do with the safe?" I asked my sister as she closed the internet app and opened the text messaging one. "Nana once told me that the things that are hidden will always come to light."_

"_Maybe it's not just the verse," my sister said in an excited whisper with twinkling brown eyes. "What if it's the chapter and verse numbers?"_

"_Ten, twenty-six, twenty-seven, and twenty-eight," Kate mused with a grin. "I think you may be right. Who are you texting?"_

"_I'm texting Jasper," Alice replied. "I think Nana just gave us the combination to her safe, girls."_

_We gazed at one another with round, excited eyes and I knew it was now just a matter of time, possibly hours, before we discovered the contents of that safe._

* * *

"_Brother against brother" is a slogan used in histories of the American Civil War, describing the predicament faced in families (primarily, but not exclusively, residents of border states) in which loyalties and military service were divided between the Union and the Confederacy. There are a number of stories of brothers fighting in the same battles on opposite sides, or even of brothers killing brothers over the issues._

_~Wikipedia~_

**Chapter Sixteen: Brother Against Brother**

As Alice tapped away at the screen of her phone with her tiny fingers, it occurred to me how much she'd changed since meeting Jasper. For one, she seemed much more lucid, more sober than usual. I hadn't seen her pupils dilated or witnessed any erratic behavior, other than her usual odd predictions, in several days.

Also, Alice seemed to fully trust the Cullens now, as evidenced by the fact that she was currently texting Jasper about the possible safe combination.

"Stop," I said, touching her hand and staring into her startled, questioning dark eyes. "Don't give him the combination. We should be there when it's opened."

"Bella, I'm not a moron," she huffed, rolling her eyes. "I'm not even telling him about Nana's clue. I'm asking him what their plans are for tonight. They're not about to open that safe without me standing there."

"Good. I like the Cullens, but Edward is the only one I fully trust. I've only just met Carlisle, Esme, and Rose once," I admitted with a great deal of relief.

"Yeah, but you're the genius who gave them the safe," Kate spoke up with a critical edge to her voice. "Now you're the one doubting our alliance?"

"I'm not necessarily doubting it," I explained, grabbing a damp washcloth and wiping down the sticky counters. "I'm just saying we should be there when it's opened. Who knows what kind of family secrets Nana has in the safe? It might contain things that don't even pertain to the Cullens. And what was I supposed to do? We had no clue how to open that stupid safe and Edward didn't give me much of an option. Besides, Daddy always said, the best way to think like a crook is to be a crook. Who's a better crook than the Cullens?"

"The Swans," Kate cackled in her throaty laugh.

"I just think we should take precautions," I advised, tossing the washcloth in the sink. "First, we need to find some way over there without drawing suspicion to ourselves. We shouldn't go in my Jeep or your truck, Kate, and I'm certainly not asking Edward to drive out here and pick us up. Not with Billy Black and Aro sniffing around town."

Kate and Alice both murmured their agreement. We finished cleaning shop and slipped outside onto the sidewalk. It was an unusually chilly night for July. The moon overhead was neither full, nor crescent. It hung in the heavens as a broken orb, peeking through the rolling, smoky clouds like a petulant child glancing out from behind his mother's skirt. The heat from the hot street and sidewalks, combined with the odd coolness of the air, created a vaporous fog that seeped from the ground. It crept around our ankles like sorrowful ghosts wandering the earth.

The strange tenor of the night continued as we crossed the desolate street. Alice began acting particularly strange, fidgeting with the frayed edge of her shorts and muttering below her breath. Kate and I exchanged a look of concern. I tried to ignore Alice's mumbled, unintelligible words as the three of us arrived at our respective vehicles. All thoughts of Alice's improved eccentricity evaporated from my mind with her change in mood. Her strange behavior had once again returned and a sense of melancholy washed over me. I'd hoped Jasper's presence in her life somehow improved her oddities, but I guessed I was wrong.

I called Edward and asked if it were alright for the three of us to sneak over. At first he sounded surprised by my request. I failed to mention the safe, for fear that he'd grow impatient waiting on us to arrive and crack the safe open without the three of us being present. He's wasn't the most patient person I'd ever met.

Kate abandoned us near her truck with the promise of returning to our house with a discrete vehicle to travel to the Cullen house. When we arrived home, Alice hopped out of the Jeep insisting on showering and changing clothes for some reason. I was too anxious, too consumed with the knowledge that the contents of Nana's safe would soon be relieved, to concern myself with gussying up for Edward.

The lake water lapping against the shore and the hoot of an owl were the only sounds we heard as we entered our house, adding to the eeriness surrounding us. A shiver crept down my spine and I quickly shook it off.

"Someone walk over your grave?" Alice questioned, raising one thin, ebony eyebrow.

I nodded, tucking a loose strand of hair from my sloppy bun behind my ear and ignoring the chill bumps running along my skin. Alice sighed and disappeared upstairs to shower.

Kate shot me three impatient texts explaining that she was waiting for us at the end of the driveway. I'd just finished returning her third text when Alice re-appeared. Gone was the mandatory Swan's Sweet Confections pink shirt and her shorts. A white, thin dress graced her tiny stature, ending just at her knees. There was a smugness to her face that she quickly hid as I stared at her suspiciously.

"Are we ready to go?" she inquired with big, innocent chocolate eyes.

"Why are you wearing that?" I asked, ignoring her question as I appraised her girly getup. "That's why you were anxious to stop by the house? So you could dress up for Jasper?"

Alice gave a careless shrug as she shoved her feet into a pair of ballet slippers.

"Alice, I don't understand you sometimes. We could already be at Edward's house cracking into that safe, but you had to make a pit-stop to pretty yourself up? Gah! Come on, Kate's waiting at the end of the driveway for us."

Alice simply gave me a grin, looking so full of unspoken knowledge and truth that it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. She turned and skipped across the living room, exuberantly slipping through the front door, and disappearing into the mist.

I lagged behind her skipping form quite a distance away. The low rumble of a distraught, idling engine hummed from the road. An Buick LeSabre, probably around a 1973 model, sat idling on the side of the road. It as a dingy beige color with thick, putrid exhaust pouring from the tailpipe. Alice slid in the passenger side with that knowing expression on her face. I wrenched the old back door open and flopped down against the ripped leather interior.

"Now this is an Eight Mile car if I've ever seen one," I joked, referencing the Eminem movie, and trying to dissipate the odd feelings Alice inflicted on me. "Where did you steal this from? And where's Eminem? I know you secretly love him. I'm highly disappointed he's not here."

"I do not love Eminem!" Kate fumed, pulling from the shoulder of the road, punching the gas, and causing the engine to whine and protest. "I am a straight-up country girl! You'll never hear Eminem blasting from my speakers!"

Kate was lying. She was a total closet Eminem fan and we all knew it. Alice shot me a secret grin as we snorted at Kate's irritated face.

"Seriously, where did you get the car?" I asked, pressing my hands onto my lap to avoid the disgusting interior.

Sticky junk food wrappers were scattered along the cracks and crevices of the floor, which was stained with red mud. The jagged, broken leather scratched the back of my legs, and the air smelled of body odor.

"Jessica and Lauren owed me a favor," she shrugged, pulling onto the main highway and heading over the bridge. "Jessica's brother is dating Lauren, and she's distracting him while I borrow his ride."

I grimaced at the thought of skanky Lauren 'distracting' anyone.

The thick fog formed a white veil over the bridge as the steam rose from the underlying water. Kate crept across the bridge at a cautious, slow speed as we all sat with bated breaths, mostly unable to see anything within three feet in front of the old Buick. We all let out an audible sigh of relief as the back tires finally left the bridge, and the fog let up immensely.

Kate followed my directions down the dusty dirt roads. The Eight Mile car we sat in anxiously rolled through the thick woods and mist, growling as Kate brought the car to a stop in Edward's driveway. Jasper and Garrett's vehicles sat near the garage, along with the expensive vehicles I recognized from my first visit to the house.

A nervous ball of anticipation formed in the pit of my stomach at the very thought of opening the safe with Carlisle or Esme present. What if there was information against Carlisle in that safe? Would he take it? Destroy it? Grow angry with me, personally, just because I'm a Swan?

Edward, Jasper, and Garrett were sitting on the front porch chatting and laughing as they watched us park the car. Kate, Alice, and I climbed out of the car, slamming the heavy doors behind us. Kate glanced around curiously at our surroundings, since it was her first time at the Cullen house.

"Did y'all get lost on Eight Mile Road?" Garrett snorted, nodding at the pitiful LeSabre sitting morosely in the drive. Alice and I giggled at the irony of his words.

"Shut up," Kate snapped, huffing and climbing the porch steps with a glare on her face.

"Yeah, did you 'lose yourself' on the way over here?" Jasper cracked, pulling Alice onto his lap as she giggled.

Garrett and Jasper broke into a poorly performed rendition of 'Lose Yourself,' laughing as Kate grew red in the face at their taunting. Edward stood from his wicker chair with a lopsided grin, reaching out and pulling me into his arms. I relished the firmness of his body, his disheveled hair, and the smell of some manly soap that lingered on his skin.

"Nice ride," he whispered, burying his nose in my hair. "I don't think anyone would suspect you'd be in a car like that."

"Hey, I like that car," Kate told Edward with her chin tilted upward slightly, swatting Garrett's roaming hands from her body.

"It smells like someone died in it," I muttered, barely able to breathe from the delicate kisses Edward peppered from my collarbone to my ear.

"You'd know," Kate muttered, ignoring my shocked expression as she gave in to Garrett's relentless groping, falling onto his lap.

"Not that I'm complaining, but what brings you ladies to the Cullen Compound?" Jasper inquired, running his fingers through his thick, shaggy blond curls.

"Well, we think we might know the combination to Nana's safe," I admitted.

Edward's arms stiffened against my body for a moment before they relaxed again. Edward, Garrett, and Jasper exchanged surprised glances.

"Really? How did you figure it out?" Edward asked with a voice laced with curiosity.

My grandmother's watery blue eyes and trembling voice as she spoke the Bible verse flashed through my mind. It felt wrong to voice my grandmother's hint, remembering the fright and weakness in her eyes, caused by our menacing uncle. I shrugged, and Edward gave me a stern stare, silently assessing my downcast face. My eyes rested on his strong jaw, covered in a light dusting of scratchy hair that gave me temporary amnesia as I momentarily forgot about my grandmother and the safe.

I wanted to lick his jaw.

Edward decided to drop the subject, releasing me from his arms. The action brought me back to my senses and I shoved my thoughts of jaw porn aside. Edward placed his hands on my waist and guided me to the front door. Alice, Kate, and the boys followed behind. Glancing over one shoulder, I noticed a hint of nervousness on Kate's face that she quickly disguised with a look on indifference as we entered the fancy, grand structure. Alice continued to have a tiny bit of smugness dancing in her eyes that I couldn't understand.

Carlisle and Esme were sitting on the tremendous leather couch, smiling and talking quietly to one another, looking like the picture of a perfectly normal couple. Esme was wearing a royal blue dress and sipping heavily scented coffee from a fine quality china cup. Carlisle had the local newspaper spread across his lap. A black and white photo of Jacob Black's smiling face was plastered against the open page.

"Hello, girls," Carlisle greeted us, quickly closing the newspaper and tossing it onto the coffee table. "Nice to see you again, Bella. This is Alice and Kate, I presume?"

"Yes, sir," the two chanted, one in a respectful, yet wary tone, and one with a tremendously un-impressed candor.

Carlisle and Esme stood and took turns shaking their hands. My sister was stiff and clearly uncomfortable touching either one of them. Kate struggled to maintain a neutral façade about her, but the end result was a sour grimace that raked her entire body.

"We're going down to the basement," Edward told his uncle. "To take another shot at opening the safe."

"Basement?" Carlisle asked with a furrowed brow. "What basement?"

"Carlisle," Edward began, speaking in a quiet, controlled voice. "I told Bella the safe was in the basement. She knows we have a basement."

Carlisle dropped his hand from Kate's, turned, and stared at Edward in disbelief. There was a brief moment of tension coursing through the air between the two men. Edward's face tightened, and that sexy jaw line held firm as the two stood at war with one another. A mute debate passed through their eyes. Kate, Alice, and I glanced at one another in awkward confusion. For some reason Carlisle didn't want us knowing he had a basement. I could only imagine what was in that dreaded basement.

"Oh, get over yourself, Carlisle," Esme huffed, breaking the silence as she fluffed her caramel curls and returned to the couch. "If you don't want them in the damn basement, go get the safe and return it to them. It's theirs to begin with."

Esme gazed through the wavering steam over the edge of her coffee cup, meeting Carlisle's glare. Carlisle sighed, rubbing his temples in frustration. After a moment of tacit hesitation, he dropped his hands from his head and stared sternly at the three of us, meeting each of our eyes one by one.

"The boys will bring your safe upstairs to my office," he spoke in a firm, no-nonsense tone, glancing one last time at Edward before joining his wife on the couch. "You girls can visit with us until they return."

Kate, Alice, and I exchanged a wary glance before we sat nearby. The boys disappeared around the corner while Kate, Alice, and I waited in nervous anticipation. Carlisle returned to his reading and Esme chatted with us in a friendly tone, asking light, mundane questions. My eyes constantly darted to the various photographs of Jacob Black splashed across the front of the newspaper clutched in Carlisle's hands. I half expected Esme or Carlisle to mention his death, but they never did. The boys returned shortly with Garrett and Jasper toting the heavy safe. Edward nodded for us to follow and we did, excusing ourselves from the room. Carlisle never moved from his place on the couch as he continued to read the newspaper.

We entered a large, elegant office, full of bookshelves and rows and rows of books. A large, mahogany desk sat in one corner of the room. Jasper and Garrett gently placed the safe on its slick surface, careful not to mar the wood.

"So what is the number combination y'all came up with?" Jasper asked, plopping down in leather chair near the desk and wheeling himself over to the safe.

"Ten, twenty-six, twenty-seven, and twenty-eight," Alice stated as the rest of us hovered around Jasper.

"This type of safe requires six numbers to open," Jasper mused, spinning the dial several times and getting a disappointing clicking sound each time he pulled at the handle.

We were all anxiously standing there watching as Jasper spun the dial. Edward's hands rested on my shoulders and his chest pressed against my back. He rubbed deep, reassuring circles near the top of my back with his thumbs and whispered comforting words in my ears. My sister stood near Jasper, nervously gnawing on a fingernail. Kate, being an impatient person by nature, furiously shrugged Garrett's hands away as she slammed her fist in the side of the safe in frustration.

"You stupid piece of crap!" she fumed with a red face and a newly red fist.

"Damn, baby," Garrett drawled with a crooked grin. "I love it when you're irrationally angry. You're so hot. Let's do drugs and have sex."

"You pig!" Kate seethed, smacking him in the chest.

"If it holds six numbers, maybe it's non-repetitive numbers. Ten, twenty-six, twenty-seven, and twenty-eight. That's a one, zero, two, six, seven, and an eight. That's six numbers in all," I suggested, ignoring Kate and Garrett's dispute.

Everyone peered at me for a moment before hurriedly turning back to the safe. Jasper spun the dial again, applying the combination of numbers that I suggested. We all let out one combined audible gasp as the safe make a loud, resounding click. Jasper slowly wrapped his fingers around the handle and pulled the door open as the rest of us leaned forward, staring inside the safe in rapt curiosity.

"Here you go, Bella," Jasper spoke up politely, easing out of the leather chair and offering it to me with a soft grin on his face.

I gave him a thankful smile and slid onto the chair. Very slowly and carefully, I removed each item from the safe. The unmistakable musty smell of old books and papers assaulted my senses as I stacked a group of well-worn diaries on the table. Some were tattered with frayed bindings, wrapped with stained ribbons, and some were newer with shiny, brown leather covers.

Then I removed a small, ornate box from inside the safe. It was covered in fabric with elegant Victorian men and women dancing along the lid. The women wore extravagant heavy dresses and the men wore fancy suits with billowing white fabric bunched around their neck and hands. I immediately knew it was a jewelry box and I set it aside for later.

The only other items in the safe were documents; stacks and stacks of documents. I removed them all at one time, cursing below my breath as a thick, manila envelope slipped from between the yellowing sheets of paper.

"Aro's envelope," Alice mumbled, garnering the attention of the boys.

Garrett bent down and retrieved the envelope from the floor, handing it to me after I placed the rest of the documents on the desk. The envelope was large with a metal prong near the top, holding the contents safely inside.

I shot my companions one last nervous glance, meeting Edward's eyes last. He gave me a stupid lopsided grin, nodding at the envelope, encouraging me to continue. Nodding, I took a deep, ragged breath, trying to slow my frenzied heart. I slid my fingers over the prong, releasing the top flap, and slowly shook the contents of the envelope onto the desk.

I hovered over the documents with my eyes rapidly skimming each line. I'd always been a pretty thorough, yet quick reader. There wasn't much that I enjoyed more than slowly taking my time reading a book, magazine, or anything really. I simply enjoyed losing myself in the words and phrases.

There was nothing enjoyable about what I read at that moment.

"Dear Lord," I breathed, placing each document I read to the side.

Birth certificate. Police reports. Photographs. It was all there. Dread crept over me. Cold dread. My fingers trembled slightly as I turned each piece of paper and photograph over. The photographs were sickening. I couldn't look past the first two, so I moved them to the back of the pile.

The air was thick with anticipation and curiosity as everyone anxiously stood over me. I could physically feel Edward's concerned presence behind me, as though his body were a live wire connected to mine. My entire being filled with dread and sadness as I read each document, and I wondered if he could feel my emotions as well as I felt his.

Alice and Kate grew impatient with my silence. The two girls snatched up some of the papers I'd already read and began reading quietly themselves. There was an occasional gasp or muttered word, but for the most part the room was silent. That's when Carlisle Cullen pushed the thick wooden door open and entered the office. I saw him in my peripheral, and the fear and anxiety increased ten-fold.

"We should go," Alice spoke up quietly, grasping the rest of the documents Kate held in her feeble hands. "We can read the rest of this at home."

"Now, you wait a cotton-picking minute," Garrett grumbled, snatching the papers from Alice's shocked form. "We want to read those papers just as much as you do. Do you know how many hours Edward, Jasper, and I worked on opening this stupid safe?"

Alice and Kate both protested, dancing around Garrett as he held the papers above his head. I busied myself by nudging the rest of the papers, the jewelry box, and the diaries back into the safe. Shoving the chair back, I stood and turned. Edward grabbed my shoulders, holding me firmly in place and preventing me from joining my sister and cousin.

"What in the hell is going on?" he demanded with fire burning in his eyes.

"Please let me go," I pleaded with tear-filled eyes, terrified by the Cullen's potential reaction concerning the contents of Aro's envelope.

Edward shook his head minutely before nodding to where our relatives stood fighting over the paperwork.

"What do those papers say? What's got you so upset?" he whispered in concern, loosening his grip slightly.

There was no chance of a response. I was hyper aware of Carlisle crossing the room and taking the paperwork from Garrett's willing grasp. Kate, Alice, and I froze. Edward's hands slipped from my shoulders as we all turned to peer at Carlisle, whose skin slowly began to pale as he peered down at the documents and photographs in disbelief. Recognition, betrayal, and anger danced across his features as he slowly learned the truth.

"What is it Carlisle?" Garrett piped up. "What does it say?"

Carlisle glanced up at his nephew with sad, hesitant eyes. Then he told him.

"Police reports," Carlisle explained, straightening up and clenching his jaw for a moment before he continued. "Police reports, phone records, photographs, and it all points to Charlie Swan's true killer."

"So who was it?" Jasper questioned.

"James Cullen," Carlisle muttered, rubbing the back of his hand against his forehead. "My brother."

The room was filled with a sudden stiff silence. Garrett's breathing picked up rapidly. His face slowly began to turn red and his fists clenched at his sides.

"Daddy?" he asked in disbelief, the word causing Kate, Alice, and I to gasp.

"James Cullen is...your father?" I asked, staring at Garrett and remembering the one and only time I met James Cullen.

It was a memory filled with pain, sadness, and heartache. I'd been sent home from school with the stomach bug. My uncle found my mother in bed with James Cullen. Different images of that day ran through my head. Some were of James Cullen pointing a sawed-off shotgun at my uncle, but the ones that stood out the most were the images of my mother sprawled on the ground, slapping me in the face, and tossing hurtful insults at me.

"Yes, James is my father," Garrett snapped, pulling me from my thoughts. "Why would he kill Charlie Swan?"

"Because Aro made him a deal he couldn't turn down," Carlisle spoke sadly, quietly as he flipped through the paperwork. "With Charlie out of the way, James and Renee were free to do whatever they pleased. Maybe Charlie found out about James and Renee's affair? Who knows? The point is, Aro used James. He used my brother to get rid of Charlie so he could take over the family drug business."

"That's why Aro didn't stir up a fuss when Daddy caught Renee with James Cullen," Kate whispered in excited realization. "He already knew about the affair!"

"So that's it?" Garrett asked in disbelief, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at me in disdain. "He hired Daddy to kill Charlie so he could take over the family business and have his little affair with Renee?"

"He had a personal vendetta too, I'm afraid," Carlisle told Garrett quietly as he held an old, fading document in one hand, dangling it in the air.

Everyone stared at the document, unsure of what it held; everyone except me. It was among the first documents that I read. Alice and Kate hadn't seen it yet. They stared at the piece of well-worn paper in morbid curiosity. Edward crossed the room and carefully took the paper from his uncle. The room was silent as everyone stared at Edward's shocked and angry face. His jaw clenched and he looked up at me, locking his eyes with my own.

"It's a birth certificate," I sighed, dropping heavily onto the brown, leather office chair. "For Arnold Weston Cullen Swan."

"Who is Arnold Weston Cullen Swan?" Kate asked with her eyebrows knitted in confusion.

"Aro," I giggled as an odd sense of hysteria built up inside me. "Arnold is Aro. Uncle Aro's not a Swan after all. He's a Cullen!"

My hysterical giggles were the only sound in the room. Laughter and tears, that's all I had left.

"That's some horse shit!" Alice suddenly snapped, crossing the room and taking the birth certificate from Edward's hands. "Uncle Aro is NOT related to the Cullens!"

"Yes he is," I snorted, wiping the tears from my cheeks. "It's all right there in black and white. Handwritten due to the times, but still a legal and binding document. Nana Swan gave birth to an eight pound, six-ounce baby boy whom she named 'Arnold Cullen Swan.' She gave him the Swan last name, but listed a Cullen as the father and gave Aro 'Cullen' as a middle name."

"Wait," Edward interrupted, looking utterly perplexed. "If your grandfather wasn't Aro's biological father, then who was?"

My giggles slowly evaporated as I, myself, didn't know the answer to his question. The father's name on the birth certificate was unfamiliar to me.

"I can answer that," Carlisle spoke up in a disheartened tone with a haggardness about him. "The birth certificate lists Peter Cullen as the baby's father. Peter Cullen was my father as well."

The room was deathly silent. Edward's face went slack as he stared at his uncle in disbelief. Garrett slowly shook his head, refusing to acknowledge the utter truth of the situation at hand.

"That doesn't make sense," I argued, breaking the deadly silence. "Nana told me she was in love with a man who died in the war about a month after they broke things off. How can that man and your father be the same person?"

"Your grandmother obviously lied to you," Carlisle said in a smooth voice, running his fingers through his hair. "My father only passed away a few years ago. He was married to my mother two years before Aro's birth, according to this record. Your grandmother and my father apparently had an affair. She probably married your grandfather to cover up their indiscretions."

"Oh, my God," Kate breathed in awe as her blue eyes widened. "This can only mean one thing. Nana Swan was a sideline ho."

"Kate!" I hissed, slamming my fist on the desk, causing Alice to jump in shock. "This is no time for jokes!"

"I'm not joking!" Kate shot back, glaring at me through narrowed eyes. "Nana was a sideline ho. She was 'the other woman.' Face the facts, Bella. Nana's not as perfect as you think she is. She's a sideline ho."

"Stop saying that!" I growled at my cousin.

"Sideline ho," she repeated, raising an arched eyebrow.

"Kate!"

"Wait...does this mean we're...related?" Kate suddenly asked, dropping the sideline ho comments as she glanced over at Garrett's frowning face like he was the scum of the earth.

"No," I sighed. "We're not related to the Cullen family. Only Uncle Aro is."

"Are you sure?" Kate asked uncertainly. "I'm not into the whole 'kissing cousins' sort of thing. That was one fucked up era for the South."

"Kate!" I snapped. "Will you please shut up and pay attention to the situation at hand?"

"The photographs...what do they show?" Edward asked, breaking into mine and Kate's argument.

"They're photographs taken at night by some high-resolution camera," Carlisle answered, passing him the photographs that I couldn't bear to look at. "They show James standing in a field dumping Charlie Swan's body. I don't know if Aro took them himself, or if he hired someone else to take the photographs. He's probably kept all this evidence as an insurance policy of some sort. If James were to ever cross him, he'd have photographs, the original un-doctored police report, and phone records between James and Renee Swan. It's genius. James must have secretly told Aro about Edward's father and I partnering with Charlie. Aro then cooked up a scheme to take down Edward Sr., and then Charlie as well."

"Billy Black doctored the police report," I whispered in realization. "The report on file says that there is little evidence pointing at my father's true killer, but that report shows all sorts of evidence. There's a witness statement placing James and Charlie at a bar together right before the murder. Then there's the photographs themselves. The supposed 'unidentified' tire tracks near the scene of the homicide belonged to the same vehicle James drove at the time. Billy Black was in on the murder for hire as well."

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree," Kate sniffed. "So, now what do we do?"

"We can turn it over to the FBI," I suggested. "There's no way they can deny the evidence we have."

"So we're gonna put Nana Swan out on front street?" Kate sneered, rolling her eyes at me. "Air her dirty laundry for the world to see? That's a pretty shitty thing to do, Bella."

"No," Carlisle spoke up in a steely voice, meeting all of our stares one by one. "If Aro wants a war, he's got a war. Brother against brother. James doubled crossed our family. I'm sorry, Garrett, but it's the truth. There's only one solution and it doesn't involve the FBI."

"What's the solution?" Garrett asked in a voice full of dread that already implied he already knew the answer concerning his father's future.

"James, Aro, Billy Black, and whoever else was involved will pay for what they've done," Carlisle replied, meeting my eyes and holding my stare. "They'll pay with their lives. They'll pay for Charlie's death, and for my brother's as well."

"If only there were some sort of evidence of my father's death in that safe as well," Edward remarked bitterly, glancing at me with a broken expression on his face that he quickly hid.

"Maybe there is," I mused, reaching out and running my fingers over the stack of diaries in the safe. "There's so much more to go through. What we read just now is a sample of what's in this safe."

"I'll have plenty of time to read the diaries," I continued in a wistful voice as my mother's angry face flashed through my mind. "I think I'll take me a little vacation and visit my mother after all. She's got some explaining to do."

"Do you think she knows that James Cullen murdered Daddy?" Alice asked in a voice laced with sadness."

"I don't know, Sissy," I replied in a voice filled with dread. "There's only one way to find out. We're going to Birmingham."

"I don't want to see Mama," Alice whispered, crossing her arms and rocking on her heels. "I can't handle this, Bella. I can't handle this."

Alice continued to mutter 'I can't handle this' over and over. Jasper took a step forward, attempting to console her, but she shrugged him away. Tears filled her eyes, brimming over and running down her cheeks. She took a deep, gasping breath before stumbling from the office and into the hallway. I blew out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding. All thoughts of birth certificates, murders, and affairs left my mind as I, once again, found myself consumed by nothing but my sister's well-being.

* * *

Thanks AliCat0623 for fixing my mess, listening to my ideas, and giving me your awesome advice ;)

Thanks, Carmen, for unknowingly giving me the Eight Mile idea ;)

Thanks, Tia, for unknowingly giving me the sideline ho idea. Bahahahah! I'm so glad we're addicted to natesvlogs and hotdamnirock on YouTube.

So, was it what you expected? Aro is a sneaky bastard, hiring everyone else to do his dirty work! Does that make him better, or worse? What about Renee? Does she know James murdered Charlie? What about Nana? Alice? Garrett? Wonder what's gonna happen in Birmingham...

Reviews make me smile ;)


	17. Chapter 17: Shiny New Life

_Previously, in Chapter Sixteen..._

_Alice continued to mutter 'I can't handle this' over and over. Jasper took a step forward, attempting to console her, but she shrugged him away. Tears filled her eyes, brimming over and running down her cheeks. She took a deep, gasping breath before stumbling from the office and into the hallway. I blew out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding. All thoughts of birth certificates, murders, and affairs left my mind as I, once again, found myself consumed by nothing but my sister's well-being._

* * *

_One thing you can't hide-_

_is when you're crippled inside._

_~John Lennon~_

**Chapter Seventeen: Shiny New Life**

The sun was sinking in the distance, dipping behind the pines lining our lake. The rays were hitting the surface of the water, sparkling and glistening, blinding me with the light. The sky was mixture of dusty purple and powdery pink. I shoved my shades down over my eyes, casting my sight away from the scene in front of me to gaze down at the open book in front of me. It was no ordinary book. No, it was quite the opposite, in fact. It was a diary, a diary belonging to my grandmother.

I'd picked one of the newer looking diaries to read first, with the intent of find out if Nana had written anything about my father's death. The diary deceived me. It wasn't new. The leather cover was clean and well cared for, but the diary itself was over forty years old. I started to place it aside to grab another, but I found myself hesitant to release it from my firm grip. My thumbs skimmed through the pages. I was transported, no longer sitting on a deck built by my burly, mustached father.

The diary took me back to a different time; a different era. Everything surrounding me slowly faded away, even the sweltering heat and the humidity that lingered in the air, curling the tendrils of hair that'd fallen loose from my sloppy bun. I was enraptured in the past, and to a very different Mississippi. I gazed at the world through my grandmother's eyes.

Nana spoke of chickens and hogs roaming the yard, of sagging front porches, and a breezeway that would chill your bones in the winter. She wrote about the freedom of cutting through the air on the rope swing over the creek near her home, a rare, sweet relief from her time laboring in the cotton fields. I read about her sisters snoring beside her in the cramped bed they all shared. I snickered over the excitement she felt over indoor plumbing, as she no longer dressed in heavy clothes to use the outhouse in the wintertime.

My eyes flitted over the pages, rapidly absorbing every word. I drank it in, flipping from page to page until I finally found a passage that sent my heart into overdrive.

_May 6th, 1962_

_Dear Diary,_

_Yesterday was a very strange day, Diary, because yesterday I met a man. He's not just any man. He's the most beautiful man I've ever seen. _

_My younger sister, Nita, heard a rumor that some kids were meeting up that afternoon to swim in the river. She asked me to walk with her, claiming some of our classmates would be there as well. I knew she was just looking for an excuse to spy on some boys. Nita's fifteen and boy-crazy. If only Mama or Papa could hear the things that come out of her mouth! Papa would surely beat her with the strap!_

_I can't blame her for craving a distraction. These are some dark and dreary times. Lord knows we all need some relief from the tension building in the South. People, great people, are rallying together for change, but things look bleak, Diary._

_The schools were supposed to become desegregated eight years ago, but there has been no change here. Segregation, although now illegal, continues, and with it comes the harsh realities of the local law. We have one sheriff and one deputy who cover our entire county. They are not only few in numbers, but swift to look away from the injustices that surround us. _

_Men have come marching silently down Main Street twice this week, waving their flags around and wearing ghastly white disguises that terrify me. Their eyes peek out through the black holes, making them look like demons from hell. Rarely do I get a good night's rest._

_To keep my mind off these things, I finally caved, agreeing to Nita's idea, and we walked to the river. The sky was a strange mixture of clouds and sunshine. The air crackled around us and we both remarked on it, feeling slightly off-kilter walking down the dusty road, drunk off the prospect of spying wet male flesh._

_When we came up on the river, we noticed the boys weren't local boys at all. The boys swimming under the bridge were unfamiliar to Nita and I. I was little scared, Diary, because these are strange times and strange things are happening around us. It seems I'm scared of everything lately. _

_The boys noticed us standing on the grassy bank. They emerged from the river, laughing and smiling at us. My cheeks burned red. I'd never seen boys wearing so little. I turned my head, pulling at Nita's arm, trying to drag her up the bank, but she was standing there like a bump on a log. When I looked back up, that's when I saw him. _

_That's when I saw Peter Cullen for the very first time._

_The first thing I noticed was his hair. This man's hair was the color of molasses when the clouds block the sun, but burned like fire in the harshest light of day. His eyes were neither green, nor brown. They were a mixture of both, with little flecks of gold near the inside, the color of wild oats. _

_His hands were wet from wading in the river, and rough from picking cotton. I know this because, when he climbed the hill, soaking wet and wearing so very little, he took my hand and pressed his lips against my flesh. Those lips! They were the same color of Mama's rose bushes, and just as soft as the petals that fall from the blooms. His voice was warm and dark with unspoken secrets. _

_He's not so much a boy as he is a man, Diary. He's older than me and just as poor. Mama and Daddy wouldn't approve._

_I can't find it within me to stay away from this man, Diary. When he touched me it felt odd, like a warm current washed over my body, freezing my blood, yet burning my bones. _

_He felt it too. As soon as his hand touched mine, he became a statue, staring at me as though seeing the moon for the first time._

_My entire being is nothing but a downy goose feather, drifting languidly in the breeze; peaceful and light, floating and free. No one will keep me from this man._

_No one._

I shut the book and placed it on the nearby table, rubbing my sore eyes with the back of my hands. Taking a ragged breath, I gazed up at the suddenly dark sky. The outside patio light flickered on while I eagerly read Nana's diary, but I hadn't noticed it at the time.

My grandmother's words were haunting. I'd never heard her speak in such a manner. She was typically jovial and, at times, crude. To know that she felts such romantic feelings toward a man was odd, to say the least, as though I were reading the innermost thoughts of someone I'd never once met.

A strange sense of familiarity swam through my veins as I had read the passages, written in my grandmother's sloppy, childish scrawl. The feelings she described in her diary were all too familiar. They were the exact same feelings that flooded me with every second I spent with Edward.

"Find anything?" asked a silky voice, laced with curiosity.

I glanced up from the brown leather cover of the diary, meeting they eyes of the male voice. There he stood, leaning against the open sliding glass doors. His eyes were the color of life, breathing nothing but warmth and comfort into my soul. Nana's words played through my mind as the outdoor light shone on Edward's messy hair, causing the copper strands to spark color beneath its glow. His voice was full of concern, but his eyes were slight amusement as he witnessed my soulful gaze.

"I just read Nana's first encounter with your grandfather," I admitted, picking the diary up and waving it lamely in the air.

The amusement melted from his face and was replaced with a frown. Shoving himself from the doorway, he crossed the short distance between us and eased into the chair sitting opposite of where I sat.

"How was it? Their first meeting?" he questioned, studying my face with careful, guarded eyes.

"Electric," I whispered, unable to squelch the giddy excitement of the first time our grandparents met.

Edward smiled, his lips turning up as his eyes twinkled. I wondered if he were remembering the first time we met, in a tiny little church. He must have, because the smile fell away as he spoke again.

"Anything about Charlie?" he quietly asked. "My father?"

"Not yet," I admitted, delicately sitting the diary on the table and picking up yet another one. "But soon. I feel it in my bones."

~o0o0o0o0o~

"I'm taking a vacation," I told my grandmother the following day, as I sat my large purse on the shelf near the back door of the cake shop. "Alice and I are visiting our mother in Birmingham. We're leaving in the morning and staying until Sunday."

Nana's dark eyebrows first shot up on her forehead and then wrinkled in confusion at my demanding voice. I rarely asked for a day off, let alone asked for vacation time. I certainly never voiced my desire to see my mother, and never spoke to my grandmother in such a harsh tone.

The enthrallment I felt upon discovering Nana's written words of meeting Peter Cullen were abruptly dissolved when I realized the only other diary dating past_ that one_ ended before the death of my father. I abandoned any further readings that night, eventually falling into a restless, fitful sleep. Edward had long since snuck back home by then, driving a vehicle he borrowed from a friend.

"You can get Aunt Maggie and Aunt Sarah to work in our place," I explained, referring to our two aunts who filled in part-time for Kate, Alice, and I during the school year. "It won't hurt them to hit a lick at something, considering they haven't worked, let alone done anything else productive, all summer long."

Nana cringed at my harsh tone. I dug around in my purse, removed a large, slightly wrinkled manila envelope, and shoved it in her hands. Thick tension mounted in the room, wafting around us in angry, invisible waves. I pressed my lips together sourly. Aro's envelope trembled in her hands, and her shameful blue eyes darted to mine in question.

"Yes, _I know_," I said, answering her unspoken question as I yanked an apron from where it hung on the wall and tied it around my waist. "I've read part of your diaries and all of Aro's paperwork. I know about the affair. I know who Aro's biological father is. I know James Cullen murdered my father. "

"Bella," she croaked, "You have to understand..."

"I do understand," I interrupted, gazing into her startled eyes. "I mean, I _think_ I understand part of it. You were young. You fell in love with a man you weren't supposed to love. I get that. What I don't understand is how you could keep my father's murder a secret. How could you protect Aro? Is it because of the guilt you feel for him being the product of your shameful secret?"

"I'm afraid," she admitted, dropping her regretful eyes. "Can you fathom what it's like to be terrified of your own child? I don't think you can, Bella."

"How long have you had the envelope in that safe?" I asked, tilting my head to the side as her downcast eyes darted back up to meet mine.

"Since after your father's death," she murmured, her eyes full of agony as she watched my face grow red. "Aro brought it to me and told me to keep it safe."

"The day I took you to the hospital, you were crazed," I spoke, taking deep breaths to calm my frenzied nerves. "You thought you were dying. Is that why you gave me the safe? Was that your way of somehow making things right with my father? By dumping all this on me?"

"I did think I was dying," she admitted, softly, shamefully. "Bella, I'm sorry. I've been so selfish."

"Can we stop talking about it? For now?" I asked in a quiet, strained voice, infuriated at the entire predicament we were all in.

My grandmother slowly nodded. She dropped her gaze to the envelope in her hands and then met my eyes once more.

"Everything is in there," I explained. "I know Aro is looking for it. Do you need the rest of the stuff in the safe as well? I haven't had time to finish the diaries or go through the rest of the documents."

Nana shook her head and gripped the envelope tightly in her quivering hands. Kate entered the room, glancing between the two of us suspiciously. An evil grin crossed her cherry-colored lips as she cast her gaze fully on our grandmother before leaving the room. It was only seconds later that I heard an old, familiar song blasting from her phone.

"Hoooooooo!" Kate hollered. "You's a hooooooo! I said that you's a hooooooo!"

My grandmother's eyes narrowed as the vulnerability slipped from her face. She pursed her lips a bit. Her eyes shot daggers at a grinning Kate, who'd popped her shiny blonde head back into the room.

"Takes one to know one!" Nana snapped.

Then Nana shuffled off in an angry huff. Her white sneakers squeaked against the hard floor. She disappeared in her office, slamming the door behind her and sending Kate into a fit of giggles. I rolled my eyes at my crude cousin as she snickered and went back to work. My eyes fell on Nana's office door where she was hidden; her and her son's envelope.

I could only hope Aro wouldn't realize anyone knew about the contents of that envelope, or the fact that the Cullens and I had our own copies of his dirty little secrets, thanks to the Xerox machine in Carlisle Cullen's office.

~o0o0o0o0o~

My phone calls to my mother were futile, at first. She either ignored my calls, allowing the phone to ring constantly until I reached the voicemail, or she flat-out rejected them. I refused to leave a voice message begging for her address. I wanted nothing more than to say angry, hurtful things to the dead air I received after each irritating beep, but I knew rudeness would get me nowhere with my mother. I needed her address. I needed the element of surprise. The last thing I wanted was for Renee Swan to have an inkling of our plans on visiting her in Birmingham.

After calling her for hours on end, and avoiding my morose sister's dejected stare, I finally caved, leaving her a voice message and lying through my teeth.

"Hey, Mom," I muttered in an irritated voice. "You got a check from the Social Security Office in the mail. I thought about mailing it to you, but I don't have your address, and I'm pretty sure this is all some sort of mistake on their part. Why would they send a check in the mail instead of depositing it in your account as usual? Since you're not answering the phone, I'll just call the Social Security Office and clear everything up. Bye."

My cell began chirping almost immediately. Alice and I exchanged one sad glance as I let each call go to voicemail. Finally, the phone made a dinging sound. I pressed the message and the speaker button. My mother's irate voice filled the air, cursing, at first, before turning sweet and pleading. She left her address near the end of the message and begged for me to return her call.

"I think I hate her," my sister whispered in a dead, emotionless voice.

Alice was just a ghost of her former self. In the days following the unveiling of the contents in the safe, she'd done little besides sleep. The only thing she'd taken an interest in were the pieces of jewelry we'd discovered in Nana's jewelry box. A necklace holding an elegant, ancient key hung from her thin neck. Her tiny body seemed even smaller, and her bones pressed against her pallid flesh. I reached out, took her little cold hands in mine and gave them a gentle squeeze.

"I think I do too, Sissy," I replied, giving her a broken smile.

We spent the rest of the night dejectedly packing our bags. We left for Birmingham the next day.

~o0o0o0o0o~

Our trip to Birmingham was long, quiet, and uneventful. I lay against Edward in the backseat of Carlisle's Cadillac, relishing the coolness of the leather seats beneath my sundress and the way Edward's hands tended to wander along my body.

I read Nana's diary the entire drive there. It was a sweet escape from watching Jasper, who was driving, glance somberly at my sister sitting beside him. Her face was pressed against the window and she stared blankly at the swirling green trees that flashed by as we tore down the open highway.

I became engrossed with each meeting between my grandmother and Peter Cullen. Not once had she yet mentioned another woman, and I began to realize that my grandmother initially knew nothing of the man's marriage to Edward's grandmother.

Saddened by the thought of my sixteen year-old grandmother being swindled by a very married, twenty-one year old man, I shut the diary and laid it aside. I told myself I'd read it later and I drifted to sleep in Edward's arms.

I awoke an hour later as Jasper pulled the Caddy in the parking lot of a swanky hotel. Carlisle was nice enough to rent us two rooms for our visit to Birmingham. It was a little too fancy for my taste, with high ceilings and lavish, sparkling chandeliers, but I paid it little attention. I was too concerned with finding my mother and thoughts of my poor grandmother to care about anything else.

We didn't take time to unpack our belongings before hitting the road once more in search for our mother. Jasper entered the address in the GPS and the robotic voice instructed us with each twist and turn. Twenty minutes later, we arrived at our destination.

Renee wasn't doing so bad for herself. In fact, the neighborhood looked pretty nice, considering she'd attempted to make herself look destitute the last time we spoke to one another.

The apartment complex was made of red brick and decorated with black, wrought iron, stood three stories tall, and was nestled in a decent neighborhood. There was a pretty rock waterfall near the front of the complex, churning clear, blue water. Children gleefully splashed in a nearby pool, tucked in between the different buildings. Cheerful flowers and glossy, green shrubs lined the curbs and the front of the buildings. My mother's car was parked nearby, covered in a thin, yellow dust of pollen.

Alice and I left Edward and Jasper in the car, against their wishes. We climbed the steps to our mother's apartment, shared one last glance with one another, and took turns banging on the door. There was no sound of movement inside, no sign of life. We eventually wandered down the stairs and found our boys. They leaned against the caddy watching us intently as we approached.

"She's not home," Alice shrugged, drawing her bottom lip between her lips.

"Maybe she'll be home soon," Jasper assured her, pulling her small frame into his lightly scarred arms. "Do you want to wait inside the car?"

I shuddered at the thought of sitting in a car for hours on end, waiting on my mother. Glancing past Edward, I noticed a park across the street. It was pretty and green, full of laughing, smiling people.

Edward followed my gaze and gave me a smile. He suggested a stroll in the park, and Jasper quickly agreed. My sister remained silent, but allowed Jasper to tuck her into his side as we crossed the street and entered the park. We split into pairs, agreeing to meet back near a large fountain in two hours. Jasper and my sister disappeared in the distance.

Edward and I walked leisurely around the park, taking in all the sights around us. The tension from the past few weeks slowly melted away, and I found myself almost feeling like a normal person. I found solace as his hand slipped into mine. It was relaxing, the way we sauntered easily through the park. I was just Bella, relaxing with her boyfriend, Edward. I wasn't a Swan and he wasn't a Cullen. We were just ourselves, enjoying the time we had alone with one another.

"It's beautiful here," I told Edward, glancing up to find him watching me with a sideways grin on his face. "Isn't it pretty? It almost makes me forget we're in a huge city."

"The scenery is spectacular," he smirked, pulling me in for a kiss, dazzling me with his soft, wet lips.

As we strolled hand in hand across the bright, lush green grass in the park, a flash of auburn hair caught my eyes. It was a color all too familiar to me. It was the color of my mother's hair.

There she sat, at the bottom of a steep hill, beneath the shade of a silver maple tree. Her legs were tucked beneath her and she sat on a patchwork quilt. The quilt was familiar as well; it was one my grandmother, my maternal grandmother, who I never met, made by hand. It was one of many things my mother took with her when she left Mississippi.

A wicker picnic basket sat at her side, as did a handsome, younger man. The two were chatting and throwing their heads back in occasional laughter. Even from a distance, I saw the twinkle in my mother's eyes, a twinkle that was foreign and unfamiliar to me. She was happy, looking young, free, and unchained by the worries of life. A hot flash of jealousy stabbed at me, slicing through my chest and pricking my heart.

The man was unfamiliar, as well. My mother's male companion looked to be in his early thirties with blonde hair, tan skin, and a lean, athletic build. He wore a team jersey and jeans.

The man reached out and tucked a strand of my mother's hair behind her ear. She smiled lovingly back, showing her teeth with a grin. A knot formed in my throat, for I'd never seen another man, aside of my father, touch my mother in an intimate manner. I'd never seen her respond in such a way, even _with_ my father. The sight made me weak on the knees, leaning against Edward for support, but that was not the most agonizing thing I saw that day.

The most agonizing thing I saw were blonde-haired, blue eyed girls, around four-years old, playing contently near the blanket.

My mother pulled a couple of juice boxes from a small cooler sitting nearby. She spoke to the two cherubs, with a soft smile on her face, and they abandoned the ball they played with to eagerly grab the juice boxes. My mother then took turns combing her fingers through their soft, blonde curls, gazing down at them adoringly.

I'd never completely understood the definition of 'heartbroken' until that moment. It was as though someone had punched a hole in my chest, squeezed my heart, and ripped it from my torso. Swooshing sounds rang through my ears, like a train rushing down the tracks. The word 'replaced' looped over and over in my brain.

_Replaced, replaced, replaced._

"That's my mother," I whispered, as Edward took in my mortified appearance."

"Who is that with her?" he asked, clutching my sweaty hand tightly in his own.

"I have no idea," I admitted. "Find my sister, Edward, before she sees this. Please."

My request came out soft and broken. I felt Edward's indignant gaze on the back of my neck as I crossed the lush, green grass in the direction of my mother.

Happiness surrounded me. Children laughed and played, chasing one another in a game of freeze tag. Young couples smiled and laughed, leaning into one another with twinkling eyes and throbbing hearts. An elderly man and woman sat on a park bench quietly sharing their meal, comfortable in their silence after years of love and commitment.

And me? I was livid.

Renee didn't notice my angry approach, not until I was practically hovering over her on my grandmother's blanket. The happiness slipped from her face as her eyes widened in horror. Two round, twin faces gazed up at me in open curiosity, their jaws slowly working the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches my mother so lovingly prepared them. The man glanced from me to my mother with his forehead drawn.

"Hello, Mother," I spat, smirking as her face paled.

"Mother?" the man spoke, chuckling slightly as my eyes snapped from my mother's and found his.

"I'm sorry, Hun," he said with an apologetic smile. "You must be mistaken. Renee doesn't have any children."

_Renee doesn't have any children._

_Renee doesn't have any children._

_Renee doesn't have any children._

The words wound over and over through my brain, in a shrewd, sing-song voice. It abruptly became very difficult to breath, and it had nothing to do with the humidity and stifling heat swirling around me. My throat was in a vice grip and my chest was about the explode. My mind was a rubber band, pulled and stretched to the point of snapping. Alice's face flashed through my mind, but it wasn't Alice that I turned into.

I became Kate.

"Get these kids out of here before I cut the fuck up," I growled to the unfamiliar man.

A little gasp left both of their mouths at that moment. My mother began grabbing Tupperware bowls crammed with food, shoving them inside the basket and motioning the children to stop eating. The man started talking loudly then, but I couldn't hear him over the rushing locomotive tearing through my ears. In a rage, I kicked at a monkey bread cake sitting daintily on a plate near my mother's knees. The little balls of baked dough scattered across the grass. A large chunk of the cake slapped my mother across her red-stained cheek. Thin, white icing streaked across her astounded, disbelieving face. Twin cherubs began to cry, sniffing, snorting, and gasping for breath.

I couldn't find it in me to care. Renee was lucky there were sitting there. If not for them and the crowds of people mulling around, I quite possibly would have strangled her.

"You little bitch," my mother screamed, finally coming to herself. "How dare you come here staring trouble? I have a new life! Why couldn't you just stay in Mayhaw and let me be! You've ruined everything!"

"Renee?" the man said dumbly, pulling his crying children into his arms, and gawking at my mother.

"Take the kids to the apartment, Phil," my mother told him in a hard voice with evilness shining in her eyes. "I'll explain everything later."

The man nodded, mute and troubled. He and the two sobbing toddlers stumbled away, hand in hand, across the park. They disappeared in a thick crowd gathered near a fountain. I was suddenly left alone with my bitter mother.

We stared at one another for a long moment, waves of hatred seeping around us. It was her voice that finally cut through the bitter silence.

"I never wanted you," my mother hissed, smirking as my face momentarily fell before hardening once more. Her eyes shone triumphantly and I didn't doubt her words.

"Why do you think I married your idiot father?" she asked, shoving the last of the containers in the basket, then standing to face me. "It wasn't for love, that's for sure. I married him because I had to. I married him because he got me pregnant with _you_! If it weren't for you I'd left that hick town years ago and went on with my life!"

"You married Daddy because you were pregnant with me?" I spoke, the words coming out bloated with truth and understanding.

"Yes," she sneered. "Alice was planned. She was a poorly devised plan to feel something I couldn't feel with you. It worked, for a while."

I was nothing to that woman. I was nothing but a child she never truly wanted, never truly cared for. Years of resentment, heartache, and exhaustion infiltrated my being.

"I'll leave you alone," I seethed, clenching my hands at my sides and glaring at the humorous grin on her face. "You can continue with your shiny new life and your shiny new family, if you answer one question for me."

"Great," she smirked, cool and calm, planting her hands on her hips. "Let's hear it so you can be on your way."

"Do you know anything about Daddy's murder?" I breathed, calming slightly at the memory of my father's kind, tanned face and thick, twitching mustache. "Do you know who killed my daddy?"

Renee's smirk melted and was replaced with a startled frown. She slowly shook her head, narrowing her eyes. As much as I wanted to scream from the mountaintops that I knew about James Cullen killing my father, I didn't. It was one of many requests of Carlisle's that I upheld that day.

"No, of course not," she snorted, crossing her arms and tilting her head. "Why would you ask that? I didn't love the man, but I certainly wouldn't have murdered him!"

"I don't say you murdered him," I corrected, raising an eyebrow as her eyes went askew and darted from mine. "I asked if you knew who did."

"No," she huffed, bending to grab the blanket, picking up the discarded cake plate, and shoving it in the picnic basket. "I can't believe you have the audacity to come here and ask me that. You're ridiculous and pathetic, Bella."

"The only person ridiculous and pathetic is _you_," a quiet, stony voice spat.

Renee straightened, picnic basket in hand, staring dumbfounded past me. I turned to find Edward, glaring at my mother. His hair was a wild, sweaty mess, swirling on his head and sparkling beneath the sunlight. Those green eyes were black and pure hatred poured from his body.

"And just who are you?" my mother demanded, but her voice no longer sounded angry and harsh, just bitter and curious, darting between the two of us.

"Someone who cares about your daughter," he smoothly replied, avoiding directly answering her question. "Something you know nothing about.

My mother's mouth fell open, but Edward continued to speak, refusing to allow her to get a word in edgewise.

"You don't deserve Bella's love," Edward told my mother in a steely voice, with his mossy eyes flashing in anger. "But for some reason, she continues giving it to you freely. You're a horrible, pathetic excuse for a mother. One day it'll be too late. She, or Alice, neither one, won't wait on you forever. Come on, Bella. Let's get out of here. I've changed my mind. The scenery around here sucks."

Edward placed his hands on my waist, giving my mother one last glare as he started to guide me away, but I was rooted in place. There was no way I was leaving that park, or Birmingham for that matter, without giving telling her goodbye, in the only way I could see fit.

"Edward's wrong," I told her in a calm, yet firm voice, ignoring Edward's startled stare. "It's already too late. You are no longer my mother. You're Renee Swan, someone I'd rather not know. I'm finished with you. When I turn around and walk away, I'm walking away for good. Don't call me, don't come home, don't send word through Alice or anyone else. In fact, just pretend like Alice and I don't even _exist_. That should come easy to you. You've been doing it for nearly nineteen years now."

Hurt and sadness flashed across her face, but it was brief. It was replaced with a cool indifference. My mother pursed her lips and nodded, agreeing to forget about the two daughters who wanted nothing but her love, comfort, and understanding through the years. She was allowing me to walk out, without another word. I gave her one last look, allowed Edward to tangle his strong arms around me, and promised myself I'd never allow Renee Swan to hurt me ever again.

~o0o0o0o0o~

My sister was in the adjoining hotel room, curled up in Jasper's embrace. She hadn't witnessed my mother spending time with her new family, but I knew I couldn't keep it a secret from my sister. When I told her about Phil, and the two children I assumed were his, her face crumbled slightly. As I repeated my mother's angry words, in a softer voice, she completely broke down. Luckily, Jasper was there by her side.

It was strange, standing nearby, idly watching as another person comforted and consoled her. The look on her face as she and Jasper had silently stared at one another, sitting on the hotel bed, told me everything I needed to know. Jasper had taken my place in Alice's life, somewhat. She no longer needed her big sister to fight her battles. She only needed the care and comfort of a pair of tan, scarred arms.

I stood by the window of our hotel room, nervously tugging on a strand of hair and staring down at the busy, downtown traffic. I'd told myself I wouldn't cry over my mother's indifference towards me, but my heart revolted against the stubborn voice inside my head. A tear worked its way from the corner of my eye, trailing down my cheek and leaving a salty wetness in its wake.

There was static in the air and I knew he wasn't far. His body soon pressed against my back and his hands ghosted down my arms.

"I'm here," he whispered, burying his nose and my hair and inhaling. "I'm here for you. Please don't cry."

"Make me feel better," I pleaded in a whisper, smiling slightly as his body became rigid against mine. "Make love to me, Edward. Make me feel better."

That one, simple request caused him to harden against the small of my back. Edward's hands left my shoulders and cupped my breasts, pinching them tightly between his fingers. My head tilted back as a breathy moan left my lips. Edward's face found the crook of my neck. He sucked and teased my skin with his tongue and teeth.

I turned around and allowed him to slip the thin, yellow sundress over my head. A giggle left my lips as he stared down at my strapless bra in disdain.

"You should never wear a bra," he huffed, reaching behind my back and unclasping the dreadful piece of undergarment, releasing my breasts from their strict confines.

I moaned as his fingers toyed with my pebbled nipples once more. I pulled his shirt from his body. His dark nipples hardened against the cool air. My tongue worked against each hard peak, remembering how he much he enjoyed that the first time we made love.

The throaty sounds of pleasure leaving his body set my belly on fire. I found the front of his jeans, popped the button, and pulled down the zipper. My fingers brushed against his hard cock as I yanked his jeans and underwear below his hips. I took him in my hand, reveling in the silky softness of his flesh against the hardness beneath.

Edward moaned and hissed, thrusting against me with each stroke of my hand. We stumbled backwards to the bed, still thrusting, still panting, dizzy with lust and longing, our lips planted against one another's.

Edward pulled away and grinned, drowning me in a his sinfully seductive smile. He gently pushed me onto the bed. He stepped out of his jeans and underwear that were still twisted around his ankles. My back hit the mattress and I bounced slightly. His eyes fell on my jiggling breasts. A dark, primal looked cross his face, and he grabbed the sides of my panties, unapologetically ripping them at each side. I gasped as they split and tugged against my skin. He tossed them over one shoulder and smirked at my shocked face.

"You should never wear those, either," he hissed, in a thick, heated voice.

My legs parted. Edward's hands were on my inner thighs and I was needy, whimpering and pushing my pelvis towards him as he gently kneaded my flesh, teasing me with his touch and his eyes. He didn't give me what I wanted. He drew it out, forcing me to crave him, throbbing and wet, swollen and wanton. Eventually, his fingers found their way home between my legs, sliding against my wetness, roaming around my clit, but never entering my body.

Edward kneeled over me, abandoning his teasing to line himself against my entrance. He stared down at me, no longer smirking. His face was a mask of seriousness as he pushed my knees back and pressed inside of me, filling me with his thickness. He rotated his hips and I gasped at the sensation, so very full, and stretched, pinned down by this beautiful man's strong hips and firm body.

Edward's head fell forward, his lips trailed along my neck. Long fingers strained against my waist as he moved in and out of my body. We met thrust for thrust, hip to hip, slipping and sliding and falling deeper and deeper in love with each heavy breath.

"You're the only one, Bella," he whispered, deeply pushing inside, over and over, sending waves of pleasure throughout my body. "You should know that. You're the only one, and you'll always be my only one."

My mind and body were both hazy with lust and longing, struggling to process his spoken words. There was something in his words, in the way that he spoke them, that told me he wasn't talking about the relationship the two of us had forged. It wasn't right. It couldn't be true.

"I thought you'd never lie to me," I gasped, twisting my fingers in his hair and refusing to slow down, but at the same time paralyzed with fear.

"I've never lied to you," he breathed, resting his face, slick with sweat, against my cheek.

The words on his honey breath tickled my ear. His hot tongue trailed from my neck to my lips. I moaned, pulling his mouth to mine. The thrusting became harder, urgent, needy. Edward sucked my bottom lip between his teeth, biting slightly, causing my thighs to unconsciously tighten against his.

"Can I try something?" he panted, wet forehead against wet forehead, green eyes boring into brown ones.

I couldn't speak, couldn't formulate the words. Fire burned inside of me. It spread and burned the pit of my belly to the point of torture and madness. He smirked as I nodded, and he swiftly twisted, pulling me on top of him.

"Just like our night under the stars," he spoke, glancing down at my tattoo before meeting my gaze once again.

The first night Edward touched me intimately flashed through my mind. I slowly began moving against him as he guided my movements with his grasp. Flesh against wet flesh, thrust against thrust. When his fingers met my breasts and he tugged at my nipples the pulsing and throbbing between my legs became out of control.

"Only you," he reminded me, staring soulfully into my eyes as our bodies rocked against one another.

His name left my lips as I tittered so very close to my peak. I was on the edge, not falling, but certainly on my way there. My stomach clenched and a bead of sweat trickled between my breasts as the pace of our bodies increased.

Edward leaned up, hands still on my chest, and licked the bead of sweat away. It was so dirty, so erotic, especially when he hummed in approval. He then took his time teasing my nipples with his tongue, garnishing each one with as much attention as the other. When his fingers ghosted down my body and his thumb found its way home, I came undone, crying his name. My body shuddered as I rode out wave after wave of pleasure.

Edward's fingers dug into the flesh of my hips as he thrust upward, bringing my body down harshly to his. I fell forward, smashing my lips against his, biting and tugging, thrusting and sucking. Warmth filled my body as the friction increased and deepened before drifting into gentle thrusts. He pulled me beside him as he finished, still inside of me, burying his face in my hair.

Our bodies were sticky, slick with sweat and sex. I stayed wrapped up in him until he softened and slipped from my body. The sun sank outside, casting a warm glow of light through the window.

Edward's earlier confession played through my mind. Somehow, after all those years, we'd saved ourselves for one another. Maybe it was somehow subconsciously intentional, maybe not. I was too lost in the severity of it all to question him any further.

"One day, this will all be over," he mumbled, breaking the silence as his sticky lips brushed against my skin. "Aro, James, the entire mess. It'll be over. When that day comes, I leaving Birchwood, and I'm taking you with me."

"We'll have a shiny new life," I whispered back in response.

Edward didn't speak again. He only nodded, pulling me closer as he demanded nothing but me by his side. His breathing evened out as he fell asleep. I stared at him for a long time, running my fingers through his slick strands, pressing my thumbs against his firm, scruffy jaw. Loving him.

My sister's broken face flashed through my mind, but I shoved it aside. Hell, I'd take her with me if I had to. When it was all said and done, I would leave Mayhaw. I'd go with Edward to college. I'd go with him to the moon if he asked me to. I was ready for it all to end.

I craved nothing but a shiny new life; a shiny new life with Edward.

* * *

Thanks, AliCat0623! I'll save you some livers and gizzards tonight! Mmmm...

Thanks to all of you who continue to read. Your sweet words mean the world to me ;)

Oh, and ummm...*cough* for those of you who want to murder someone in each chapter...I love you too, you kooky kids!

So, what about Renee? What a skeeze.


	18. Chapter 18: The Lady in White

_Previously, in Chapter Seventeen..._

_"One day, this will all be over," he mumbled, breaking the silence as his sticky lips brushed against my skin. "Aro, James, the entire mess. It'll be over. When that day comes, I'm leaving Birchwood, and I'm taking you with me."_

_"We'll have a shiny new life," I whispered back in response._

_Edward didn't speak again. He only nodded, pulling me closer as he demanded nothing but me by his side. His breathing evened out as he fell asleep. I stared at him for a long time, running my fingers through his slick strands, pressing my thumbs against his firm, scruffy jaw. Loving him._

_My sister's broken face flashed through my mind, but I shoved it aside. Hell, I'd take her with me if I had to. When it was all said and done, I would leave Mayhaw. I'd go with Edward to college. I'd go with him to the moon if he asked me to. I was ready for it all to end._

_I craved nothing but a shiny new life; a shiny new life with Edward._

* * *

_The rose and the thorn,_

_and sorrow and gladness_

_are linked together._

_~Saadi~_

**Chapter Eighteen: The Lady in White**

_July 12th, 1962_

_Dear Diary,_

_I'm in love. I'm in love with a man who doesn't love me. He loves another woman, a woman named Lois. He loves her so much that he's already married to her._

_That's not the worst of it, Diary. The worst part of it all is that I gave him something I was to save for my wedding night. He took it from me happily, and without hesitation. My cycle was to start two weeks ago, but it has yet to make an appearance. I fear I'm with child, and I'm scared._

_I'm scared to tell him, because I know he won't care. Peter lied to me. He lied by omission. He didn't tell me he was married, and I know it's not my fault, but I can't help but feel somewhat responsible. I've been raised better than this. I was raised better than to give myself to a man before our wedding night. He told me he loved me. He told me he'd make me his. I hate what he's done, I hate that he lied, but most of all I hate that, through it all, I still love him._

I shut Nana's diary, threw it near the foot of my bed, and sighed. Burying my face in my fluffy down pillow, I struggled to rest but it was utterly impossible. The moon was bright that night. White light poured in through the large glass sliding doors leading to my balcony. I could have dragged myself out of bed and pulled the long, floor-to-ceiling blinds shut, blocking the light, but I was too frustrated, too morose to leave the bed. I knew sleep would evade me all the rest of the night. Reading Nana's diary was entirely depressing.

My mind was constantly flooded with visions of a young Nana, looking like a replica of my little sister, living with the secret burden of being with child out of wedlock. In my mind, I saw her spending her days picking cotton and working in the garden, pregnant with the child of a married man who she undoubtedly loved.

My nights were half spent reading of my grandmother's horrible indiscretions. The other half of the night I obsessed over my mother's indifference to me. Mama was no longer 'Mama' to me. She was Renee, a worthless excuse of a mother who abandoned Alice and I for a man and two children who were not her own.

Renee admitted she only married my father because she was pregnant with me. Nana obviously did the same thing to my grandfather. She used him to cover her pregnancy with Peter Cullen.

I couldn't help but compare myself somewhat with Uncle Aro, although I knew the thought was completely ridiculous. My mind reeled, wondering how he dealt with spending his life knowing he was the bastard child of a man who probably felt nothing for him. Was I that different from him in that regard?

The night seemed to pass by in slow motion, tormenting me as I tossed and turned in frustration, longing for a good night's sleep. Before I knew it, bright sunlight streamed through the window burning my skin with it's heat. I climbed out of bed, grumbling and tired.

After a long, hot shower, I dressed for work. My mind was fighting to process the fact that school would be starting soon. I snorted at the very thought. The past summer I'd fallen in love with a boy I was forbidden to see, accosted by a cop, watched my boyfriend murder said cop, helped dispose of his body, and literally unearthed various family secrets involving the Cullens, Nana, and the death of my father.

Senior year should be a piece of cake compared to summer break.

Edward texted me just as I finished shoving a greasy piece of bacon in my mouth.

_James is on his way home from Texas. He should be back any day now. Carlisle's called The Family in. Should be an interesting few days. Are you leaving for work? - Edward_

James Cullen had left on a drug run to Texas a few days earlier. James remained in the dark about his brother's revelation of James's participation in my father's murder. Edward confessed that Carlisle was calling 'The Family' in. That's what Edward called all of his relatives who were spread throughout the states, although most of them lived in the South.

Old habits die hard I guess, because the thought of more Cullens in the area terrified me. I was worried they wouldn't respond to Edward, Jasper, and Garrett's relationship to a bunch of Swan girls as kindly as Carlisle and Esme had. I also automatically compared Edward's faceless, nameless relatives to Carlisle, for some reason.

Carlisle was a strange bird. He was always completely cool, calm, and collected, but there was something there lingering below the surface; he had an evilness about him. Carlisle seemed like the type of person who you wouldn't want to piss off. He'd probably puff on his cigar and shoot you in the face without batting an eye. There was not a doubt in my mind that James Cullen would pay for his sins once he returned from Texas.

Edward had, surprisingly, explained to me one way the Cullen men transported their drugs from Texas to Mississippi. Beneath the tanks of the eighteen-wheelers they used to transport furniture from their factory to Texas, sat huge gas tanks used to fuel the vehicles. The gas tanks were rigged, welded into sections with a metal plate separating one side of the gas tank from another. One side of the tank was used, indeed, to fuel the vehicle.

The other side of the tank was hollow, that is, until it reached Texas. The hollow section of the tank was then used as a storage area for the drugs. The tanks were huge, able to carry large amounts of drugs at one time.

It didn't escape my notice that Edward never said 'marijuana' or 'weed,' and I couldn't help but wonder if my early assumptions of the Cullen family were correct. Maybe they were selling much harder drugs than marijuana. I avoided questioning Edward about the type of drugs they sold. The truth was, I'd rather not know.

Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

One thing was certain, whoever drove that tanker was a brave individual, for more than one reason.

_Yeah, I just finished eating breakfast. OMW to the cake shop now. - Bella_

_I'd like to have some Bella for breakfast ;) - Edward_

I snorted at his text, and shook my head with a small grin. Pervy Edward was out to play early that morning.

_I'd like some Edward for breakfast. Every day. Maybe for dessert tonight? We have to be careful. I'm so tired of sneaking around. - Bella_

_Are you tired of me already? - Edward_

_No, of course not. I just want us to be together, without having to hide. Can't wait for that day. - Bella_

_It's coming. I promise. I love you. - Edward_

I stared down at the phone, my thumb hovering over the glowing keyboard. Edward and I hadn't exchanged those three words since the night we'd first given ourselves to one another. It was stupid of me, completely idiotic, but repeating them again terrified me.

My chest tightened and I could barely breath. I hadn't lied when I told Edward I withheld speaking those words because I was scared.

It was an irrational fear. I obviously loved him. It made no difference if I admitted it, vocally or otherwise. There was just something about putting it out there and having it ripped away that worried me.

I shoved the phone in my pocket, hollered at Alice to get her ass downstairs, and left the house for work with my cell constantly vibrating against my hip.

~o0o0o0o0o~

"How's Garrett?" I asked Kate, watching her pretty, frowning face.

"He's been pretty quiet the past few days," Kate answered, filling an icing bag full of bright pink icing. "I think he's accepted his father's fate, somewhat. It's an expected outcome of traitors in their family."

I nodded thoughtfully, leaving her in the back room to enter the front of the cake shop. I wasn't entirely convinced that Garrett was just 'okay' with the fate of his father. He was, after all, Garrett's father.

Alice sat at the register counting up a stack of bills. Emmett stood nearby shooting me a jovial grin. He'd dropped in begging for some sweets. I was happy to see him, as I hadn't spent time with him in quite a while.

"There's a bonfire in Oak Bluff tonight," Emmett told us, leaning over the counter facing Alice at the register. "It's the last party before school starts back. Y'all wanna go?"

"It's a hundred degrees outside!" Kate hollered from the back room. "Whose idea was it to have a bonfire in August?"

"Dude. It's a fire," Emmett hollered back, shoving a cookie in his mouth. "It's an excuse to get drunk and burn shit. Who cares how hot it is outside?"

I snickered at my cousins as I carefully pushed a tray of pecan-encrusted butter cookies into the display case. The display case brimmed with colorful confections, from the dark Mississippi mud cookies chock-full of marshmallows, pecans, and bits of chocolate morsels, to the red velvet cookies swirled with buttery cream cheese frosting. I snuck a red velvet cookie from the case and took a bite, moaning in pleasure.

"The last time we went to a party in Oak Bluff, I very nearly made out with a potted plant," Alice spoke up, shocking me.

The cookie froze near my lips. My sister had barely spoke two words since our return from Birmingham. She'd also walked around looking like a zombie, not caring much about her appearance or overall personal hygiene.

She looked different that day though. Her long, ebony hair was clean, no longer hanging in a greasy mess. It was curled into thick waves. The paleness of her skin held a little more warmth to it. There was even a pretty smile on her face, although small and slightly forced.

"I'm sorry I missed that party," Emmett laughed, pushing himself off the counter and sauntering around the display case to snatch a cookie as well. "We should go though. I miss bonding with my bitches."

Alice scowled and smacked his bulging bicep. Emmett pouted and pretended the blow actually hurt him. He rubbed at the spot and glared at her, but his dark eyes sparkled, and the deep dimples embedded in his cheeks eventually shone as he beamed jovially at my sister.

Closing the case, I pondered over his suggestion. The Cullens and I made a pact to form allies between our families. The idea of including Emmett played in my mind on a routine basis. How to approach the subject with him was the only thing that had held me back. I was unsure of his reaction to the news of James Cullen murdering his favorite uncle, and the evidence that Aro was involved as well.

I'd already told Kate and Alice that we couldn't count Benjamin or Makenna in on our plans. Benjamin was working for Aro, slinging drugs for him, and Makenna was simply too high all the time for her to commit to helping us.

Emmett, although a little odd with his zombie apocalypse fascination and overall goofy personality, was the most stable of the three of them. Maybe a little drinking, smoking, and bonding over a bonfire was all we needed to loosen up and confess the things we'd found to Em.

"I think it's a great idea," I remarked, wiping cookie crumbs from my fingers on a wet-nap. "There's some things that Kate, Alice, and I need to tell you."

Kate heard my comment and wandered from the back room. Her thin, arched eyebrows shot up across her forehead as she glanced between Emmett's thoughtful, confused face to mine. Alice shifted nearby, her gaze turning to the cake shop door. Her body tensed slightly, and she turned white as a sheet. I followed her gaze and took a deep, ragged breath.

The bell over the door clanged loudly as an older man walked into the cake shop. His skin was a deep brown, tanned from his days beneath the sun. Fine lines and wrinkles crept along his skin like spindling spiders legs. A dark cowboy hat sat low on his head, partially covering his dark face. Long, ebony hair spilled out from beneath, silky and fine in texture and ending below his shoulders.

A long, thick scar marred his face from beneath his right eye to his ear, puckering the skin along the way and instantly reminding me of Jasper and Rose. His cheek was puffed out, bulging from holding a large plug of chaw, Red Man, I imagined. The green and red package could be seen poking out from his breast pocket. He wore a smart, dark, police uniform and his gold badge flashed below the overhead shop lights. There was a stack of bright yellow fliers clutched between his thick fingers.

"Hey, Billy," Emmett spoke, his voice laced with sympathy. "Any word from Jake?"

"Not yet, Emmett," Billy Black spoke, meeting my dark eyes with his own.

"That's why I'm here. I'd like to drop off some fliers and hang one in the shop window, if y'all don't mind."

"I'm sure Nana wouldn't mind," Kate cooed, finally snapping from her trance.

Kate rounded the display case and carefully pulled a flier from his fingers, giving him a soft, almost flirtatious smile. Kate gazed up at his tall frame with big, innocent pale-blue eyes. She then yanked a piece of tape from a nearby dispenser, making a sickening ripping sound, and proceeded to the nearby window. Her long, lithe fingers pressed the flier against the glass.

"Unfortunately, this isn't just a social visit," Billy continued, his dark eyes narrowing and never leaving mine as he sat the stack of fliers on the counter. "I also came to ask you kids some questions."

I broke my gaze from Billy's to glance down at the bright yellow papers. A photo of Jacob Black's face grinned back up at me.

A stab of pain and a flash of a memory cut through me. I swallowed the knot of guilt in my throat. Jake was a regular visitor in my dreams, in the few hours of rest I _did_ manage to receive some nights.

Alice began fidgeting on her stool. She hid her hands beneath the counter, wringing her tiny fingers together as she cast Billy an innocently curious glance. Kate rejoined us, plopping on one elbow beside the chief of police, and shooting him a curious expression.

"Shoot," Kate told him with a grin and a wink, making a shooting motion with her index finger, causing me to wince.

A bad feeling crept over my skin, raising the hair on the back of my neck, and sending chills down my spine. I fumbled around near the top of the display case, straightening the lollipop tree and the display of birthday candles, hiding my face behind the colorful wax numbers. I began taking slow, quiet breaths, trying to ease my rapidly beating heart.

"Jake's cruiser was found not a block away from the shop the night he disappeared," Billy drawled, shifting to glance around the candles to gaze solemnly where I stood. "The mayor mentioned ordering a cake that night. He told me Bella delivered the cake, meaning she was in the area around the same time Jake was. I'd like to know if you saw anything that night, Bella."

"No, Billy," I told him in a forced apologetic and steady voice. "I'm sorry, but I didn't see anything."

"Are you certain about that? You didn't seen anything? Maybe a seventies-model black Shelby Mustang somewhere in the area?" Billy questioned, raising an eyebrow near his scarred right eye.

Emmett stiffened beside me, obviously knowing the identity of the owner of the black Mustang. Edward was the only person in three counties that owned a vehicle to fit Billy's description. Emmett peered at me carefully as I shrugged and frowned at Billy.

"Like I said, I didn't see anything," I lied smoothly, ignoring the way Emmett stared at me. "Nana called me in to decorate the cake. I decorated it and delivered it to the mayor and his wife. I didn't see anyone else in town that night."

"Do you have anyone who can attest to that?" Billy asked, never breaking our stare. His gaze was purely accusing. He didn't believe a word I uttered.

"I can," a voice spoke, a voice I didn't expect to hear.

I forced myself to not look at Emmett in shock. Emmett tore his eyes from my face, and gave Billy a friendly smile.

"Bella thought the cake would be heavier than it was," he said with a careless shrug. "I stopped by to help her, but she already had it loaded."

"Alice and I were here, as well," Kate piped up, giving Billy a sideways grin. "Bella sucks under pressure. I helped her finish the cake and then left. Alice drove me here. I'd snuck some of Daddy's moonshine earlier that day and didn't feel safe enough to drive. You know how stout that stuff can be."

"Is that right?" Billy asked in an unconvinced voice, gazing at the lot of us.

"That's right," Kate confirmed, her eyes twinkling. "I sure hope he turns up. There's something special about Jake. I don't know what it is...I can't seem to..._put my finger on it._ Isn't that right, Bella?"

"That's right," Alice spoke up as I stared at my grinning cousin in pure mortification. "I'm sure you'll find evidence _pointing_ to Jake's whereabouts pretty soon."

"He's such a great cop," another unexpected voice spoke up, as Nana emerged from the back room. "So _hands on_ with everything."

Alice, Kate, and I stared at our grandmother in shock. Billy and Emmett looked simply confused. Nana's face was a mask of seriousness as she continued.

"We all hope you hear from Jake soon, Billy," she said. "My grandchildren told you they saw nothing that night. I can verify that Kate, Emmett, and Alice were with Bella at the shop. I couldn't get ahold of Kate at home, so I called her cell. She came in and helped Bella finish the cake on time. I'm ashamed that you'd come in here questioning my family. We've known you our entire lives. There's never been any bad blood between us."

Billy looked thoroughly abashed by our grandmother's words. He tipped his hat, mumbled an apology, and shot me one last gaze of disbelief before disappearing outside. Kate, Alice, and I let out one collective sigh at his departure.

"I'm heading home for the day," Nana explained, untying the apron from her waist. "I've got one last thing to tell you young ladies. The freezer is to be used for storing food. It's not there for your own personal items."

With that, she left, vanishing to the back of the shop. I heard the back door slam and her car fire up. I stared at Kate incredulously, glaring as she grinned sheepishly back.

"Really, Kate?" I huffed. "Nana's freezer?"

"What's going on?" Emmett interrupted. "Why did I feel the need to defend you from Billy? And what was in the freezer?"

Kate giggled an evil, malicious laugh. She leaned her thin body over the counter, gasping as tears streamed down her face. I shook my head in disgust at her next two words.

"Finger foods!" she blurted, cackling hysterically.

~o0o0o0o0o~

Kate's inappropriateness continued that night as we loaded up in my Jeep and headed to Oak Bluff. She fiddled with the radio, laughing as she put on a song that made me cringe.

"Push me again," she sang. "This is the end. One! Nothing wrong with me! Two! Nothing wrong with me! Three! Nothing wrong with me! One! Something's got to give! Two! Something's got to give! Three! Something's got to give!"

"Let the bodies hit the floor! Let the bodies hit the floor!" Alice howled, as the two of them broke into fits of laughter.

"Y'all are sick," I muttered, leaving Mayhaw and heading towards Oak Bluff.

"I hate not knowing what people are talking about," Emmett grumbled irritably.

I'd promised him we'd let him in on everything that night, but I needed a little herbal encouragement before doing so. He'd nodded his head thoughtfully, obviously understanding and feeling the heaviness of whatever it was I needed to confess.

I'd eventually called Edward back, although I didn't repeat his three words. He was more than a little peeved at me, and it had nothing to do with telling him I loved him. It had everything to do with the party I was on my way to. There was an odd hint of something in his tone, something that hinted to jealousy, and I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a little off-putting.

Edward had no reason to be angry with me for hanging out with my family at a party. I promised him we'd meet up later, but it still didn't seem to pacify him. I'd never had a boyfriend before, so I was unsure how to handle his strange reaction. I couldn't help but wonder if he still didn't trust me, and that was wholly upsetting.

Jasper and Garrett had no problem with Alice and Kate going to the party, which made me feel worse. That is, until we pulled up at the big field in the middle of nowhere. It was full of kids and pickup trucks. A huge tower of piled up wood sat in the middle of the field, burning in a glorious, fiery blaze. Kids mulled around, drinking and laughing. Hank Williams poured from the speakers of a large Chevy truck. My body was flooded with the long-awaited excitement of having a good time.

We hopped down from the Jeep, slipping and sliding on the upturned soil. There'd been a light shower the day before, and the field was torn up with deep ruts from the mud tires of the surrounding jacked-up trucks. As I trudged through the mud, I'd never been so happy to wear my old cowboy boots.

Emmett helped me lug a large red cooler from the back of the Jeep. He took it easily from my nimble fingers, and the three of us followed him across the field to where Benjamin's truck was parked. The tailgate was down and Benjamin stood nearby chatting with Mike Newton.

Em tossed the cooler on the tailgate. Kate hopped up beside it, pulling the lid back, and pulling a beer from its icy depths. She cracked it open and took a long pull, smiling over the edge of the beer at me as she threw back and chugged the entire thing.

"You're a freaking professional," I teased, grabbing one for myself.

Normally I didn't drink beer, but we couldn't be picky. It took us long enough to bribe the old man in the parking lot in the adjoining wet county to buy us the beer. It also took giving him twenty bucks that I really couldn't afford giving away in the first place.

My eyes fell on my cousin, Benjamin, as I took a pull of the nasty drink. The liquid nearly gagged me, not only from the taste, but because of the sight of my cousin. He'd lost weight since I'd last seen him. The Mayhaw Football tee he wore hang limply from his gaunt body, looking about two sizes too big. There were dark circles surrounding his brown eyes, and his face sagged slightly.

"What is wrong with Benjamin?" I whispered to Kate as Alice wandered over to where Makenna stood, chatting with a younger kid I didn't recognize.

"He's probably on the shit," Kate muttered, crushing the beer can and tossing it in the back of Ben's truck before digging around for another. "He's selling the shit for Aro, and probably on the shit as well. He looks like a fucking skeleton."

Ben felt my stare and gave me a small wave. I nodded, sending him a tight, uneasy smile. Meth was prevalent in our community, and I despised it. It was a nasty, addictive thing that left people craving more and more while slowly destroying their bodies.

I noticed a small sore near Ben's jaw that only confirmed my suspicions. Meth sore. The skin on his lightly tanned arms had small pockmarks, possibly from picking nervously at his own skin. Disgust filled my body. I didn't think it possible to hate Aro any more, but the sight of my sickly cousin made my hatred even more prevalent.

The night wore on. The air was filled with the excitement of the laughing, drunken, happy teenagers, the smell of uprooted Mississippi mud, and cheap beer.

All I could think about was Edward.

My fingers twitched, wanting to text him, so I did. It didn't matter where I was, or who I was with, he was always on my mind. My fingers lingered over the lit keyboard, and I caved, telling him what he always desired the reassurance of.

_I'm not sure why you're angry with me, but I want you to know that I love you - Bella_

Edward didn't respond, at least, not right away. I sat on the tailgate wishing I'd had more than one beer. Familiar and unfamiliar faces surrounded the truck as kids chatted. More than one fight had broken out between some Birchwood, Mayhaw, and Oak Bluff guys, but things eventually calmed down.

Kate had long since disappeared, leaving me with Mike Newton who was putting the moves on me pretty thick. I'd cocked my eyebrow more than once, glared at him, and had been outright rude after he refused to take my subtle hints. His eyes were glassy and he swayed on his feet, completely invading my personal space.

I shoved him away more than once, but he didn't falter. I'd finally had enough once he grabbed my boob.

Hopping from the tailgate of the truck, I shoved him away, glancing around for my cousins and sister, ready to leave the chaos and spend some time with Edward. Mike stumbled backwards, but came at me one last time.

"I've been in love with you since Kindergarten," he slurred, leaning to the left. "Why won't you give me a chance, Bella?"

He grabbed my flailing wrists, attempting to plant a kiss on me. Wet, sloppy lips landed on my cheek, and I gasped in shock. I started cursing and hitting him, causing him to laugh in response. My face was flamed in anger. I felt no fear towards him. I knew he was drunk and just acting stupid, but it still pissed me off.

"Step away from Bella," I heard Emmett growl.

Newton immediately dropped my wrists and stepped away. Emmett hovered over him, glowering down at him menacingly. Newton scurried away with his tail tucked between his legs like the dog he was. I glanced at Emmett and gave him a relieved smile as he ruffled my hair with his meaty fingers.

"Kate and Alice are sitting in Ben's truck waiting on us," Emmett told me with a familiar twinkle in his eyes.

"Oh, Lord," I muttered.

Emmett tossed back his head and laughed. The two of us eased through the mud and muck to the front of the truck. The door was locked. I glared through the dark tint and beat on the window until I heard the tell-tale sound of the automatic locks unlatching. Emmett climbed in the cab behind me and shut the door.

Plastic bottles littered the floor of the cab. I froze, staring down at them before slowly bending and picking one up. It was a two-liter plastic Coke bottle with white film dusting the inside of the clear plastic. Emmett snactched it from my fingers, tossing it back to the floor, and giving me a no-nonsense glare.

"Shake and Bake," I muttered, shaking my head in disappointment. "He needs help, Em. We're not talking about weed here. We're talking about meth."

"Let's talk about it later, Bella," Kate interrupted as Emmett opened his mouth to respond. "I woke up today feeling slightly patriotic. God bless America!"

Kate held up a bag of weed and shook it emphatically.

"Who in this truck loves Obama?" she asked with a grin, thrusting the bag higher in the air as though it were a prized trophy.

Kate wasn't talking about the president of the United States.

"Just roll the damn weed, Kate," Em muttered, reaching between the seats from the back of the cab and turning up the radio.

Kate hummed in agreement and opened the bag. Alice handed her a blunt they'd already broken open and dumped the tobacco out of. Kate rolled it easily, then licked the paper and sealed it. She lit the blunt and the pungent, glorious smell of weed and white grape blunt paper filled the air.

They took turns with the blunt, but I only hit it once. I was driving and only wanted enough to take the edge off. Edward still hadn't responded to my text, and I was feeling pretty morose over it. Tossing my cell from hand to hand, I'd never been happier to finish off a blunt in my entire life.

"Let's roll," I told the gang, breathing in the thick, smoky air, ready to abandon them for my boyfriend.

The three of them were completely toasted. They piled into my Jeep laughing hysterically over something Emmett said. I scowled, wanting nothing more than to feel as carefree and relaxed as the three of them. I was also desperate to see Edward.

I drove across the field, hitting every rut sideways along the way, purposely tossing them around in their seats as the Jeep bounced roughly across the ground.

My cell made a dinging sound just as I left the field. I struggled to remove it from my pocket, making sure that Emmet couldn't see the screen as I glanced down at the phone.

_I love you too. I'm not mad at you, I'm worried about you being at a party without me there in case something happens. I'm worried about Rose, too. That's why it took me so long to respond. Rose left with Royce King a few hours ago to pick up some pizzas and never made it back home. We've been calling around trying to find her. Carlisle is worried they've been in a wreck or something. I'll call you later. - Edward_

"Hit the back roads, bitch," Kate instructed, breaking my thoughts of Rose as I shoved the phone back in my pocket. "Just in case the cops are out tonight."

I nodded in agreement and hit the back roads leading to Mayhaw. The sky was overcast, encasing the moon in thick, dark clouds. I was mildly worried about a rainstorm since the top was off the Jeep. The smell of rain lingered in the air, and a flash of lightning lit up the dark clouds which hung above. The air grew thick with unease from the impending storm. Alice, Kate, and Em grew quiet as the air suddenly had a strange chill about it. When I hit Blackburn Road, Emmett let out a particularly girlish squeal.

"Don't go down this road!" Emmett insisted, with round, wide eyes. "Blackburn Bridge is haunted!"

"Em, there's no such thing as ghosts," I scolded my overgrown cousin, rolling my eyes as the forest surrounding us grew terribly thick.

"What about the lady in white?" he whispered as I glanced over at his pale face. "Everyone knows that's a true story!"

The South, like any other place, was full of lore and legend. One of those legends was of a lady in white, a ghost who'd use her beauty and charm to lure you to the side of the road. The legend said that she killed herself after catching her fiancé with another woman. Folks claimed she roamed the old, dusty roads in the backwoods, searching for a driver to let her in his vehicle. Supposedly, if you let her in your vehicle, she'd kill you as well.

"That's not a true story," Kate huffed, tossing a beer at a road sign and hitting it dead-center. "Ten points!"

"Hey, don't waste good beer! And don't litter! It's my Mississippi too!" Alice laughed, mocking the state anti-littering slogan at the end of her comment.

The two girls cackled for a few minutes, but grew silent as the canopy of trees around us grew thicker. The road was like a long winding tunnel, twisting through the overhanging trees in the black night.

Blackburn Bridge lay ahead. The rusty steel beams criss-crossed in the sky. My tires hit the bridge, rolling over the uneven ground as they traversed the wooden boards below. We were halfway across when my headlights reflected off something ghastly and white.

I hit the brakes immediately, sending everyone jarring in the Jeep. The girls gasped in fright. Em let out another girlish scream. The white figure just stood there, several yards ahead staring at us. She was far away, but I could still make out her distinguishing features.

The girl was about my age, and wore a blinding white shirt. Her hands clung to the shirt, covering her chest, and I realized the shirt must have been ripped at some point. Her face was swollen and bloody. Her jeans were covered in red mud. Golden blonde hair hung limply from her head. The girl was so pale she appeared dead on her feet.

"Zombie!" Em suddenly hollered in a panic. "Ghost! Back up, Bella! Get off this damned old bridge!"

"It's not a zombie or a ghost, Emmett," I whispered, shoving those exact, irrational thoughts from my mind. "It's a girl and she's hurt. We have to help her."

"That's what she wants you to believe," he said in an unsteady, nervous voice. "It's a dead woman!"

"You know I can hear you, right?" the figure called out. "Your voice is echoing off the water. I'm not dead, I'm not a ghost, and I'm certainly not a zombie."

The voice was oddly familiar. I shifted the Jeep into gear, shoving Emmett away from me as he struggled to grab the steering wheel. We veered forward slowly, approaching the girl cautiously. I rolled up beside her, dropping the speed of the Jeep to a crawl.

"Don't make eye contact," Emmett grunted between clenched teeth. "Keep driving and avoid direct eye contact."

Everyone stared forward except me. My brown eyes locked on the girl's blue ones. I slammed on the brakes once more.

"Rose?" I gasped, gazing at the glaring girl beside us.

Rosalie Hale nodded her head sternly, casting a hesitant glance at my companions, as they were strangers to her. Her shirt was ripped in half, just as I'd suspected. She held the ripped edges together, hiding her partially exposed bra. Blood was smeared across her creamy skin. There was a palm print across her left cheek, angry and red.

I was instantly filled with overwhelming fury at whoever could have hurt her. I suspected it was Royce King, since Edward told me they were last seen together.

"You know this girl?" Emmett whispered, looking dumbly at Rose, who narrowed her eyes at him.

"Yes, I know her," I replied, grabbing the handle to open my door.

I was too late. Emmett stood up in the back of the Jeep, swinging his massive body easily over the side. He approached Rose cautiously, his eyes flitting over her swollen, bloody face.

"Here," he spoke softly, pulling his tight shirt from his body.

Rose's eyes widened as Emmett removed his shirt, wadded it into a ball, and took a step forward. She stepped back, stumbling over the uneven wooden boards, and losing her footing.

Emmett caught her before she fell, helping her stand upright. She cringed at his touch, and he immediately released his grip. Emmett brought the shirt to her face and carefully pressed it against her split bottom lip, dabbing at the blood.

Rose gazed at him shyly as he cared for her. There was a softness to her face that I didn't notice the first time we met. Emmett brought the shirt away from her face, and the two of them gazed at one another for a long moment.

Thunder rolled in the distance and the air filled with electricity. There was a shift in the air, almost intimate in that moment. The two of them continued to gaze quietly at one another, and I realized it wouldn't take much to get Emmett on our side after all.

* * *

**DSDW terminology-**

on the shit- crystal meth is referred to as 'the shit' where I come from.

Obama- a type of marijuana, not to be confused with the current president of the US.

Shake and Bake- a quick, simpler way of making crystal meth inside a plastic bottle (usually a 2 liter drink bottle) without having to use a heat source. Easy to make while in a vehicle, public restroom, etc.

Let me know if there were any other terms I used that confuse you :)

AliCat0623- thanks for all you do! Love you!

This chapter is dedicated to Kat and her love of kicking it in the sticks :)

Thanks for all of you who voted for Wanderlust in the HEA contest. It won Judge's Pick and Best Female Character. If you didn't get a chance to read it, check it out!

Thanks for all of you who read and review! They make my sore fingers worth it!


	19. Chapter 19: Turbulence

_Previously, in Chapter Eighteen..._

_Rose gazed at him shyly as he cared for her. There was a softness to her face that I didn't notice the first time we met. Emmett brought the shirt away from her face, and the two of them stared at one another for a long moment._

_Thunder rolled in the distance and the air filled with electricity. There was a shift in the air, almost intimate in that moment. The two of them continued to gaze quietly at one another, and I realized it wouldn't take much to get Emmett on our side after all._

* * *

_The heart was made to be broken._

_~Oscar Wilde~_

**Chapter Nineteen: Turbulence**

Another clap of thunder boomed overhead, lighting up the sooty sky. The dark clouds were silhouetted momentarily as a streak of lightning flashed across the darkness surrounding us.

A fine mist filled the humid air, coating my arms in wetness, making the fine hairs on the back of my arms bead up with moisture.

The spell between Rose and Emmett was broken by the sound of the impending thunderstorm.

"Who did this to you?" Emmett demanded, pulling the wadded up shirt away from Rose's busted lip.

"Royce King," she whispered softly, almost shamefully.

"I'll kill him for hitting a woman," Emmett fumed, meeting Rose's shocked stare with his own enraged one.

Rose dropped her gaze from my cousin's face and began peering anxiously behind us. The unmistakable sound of a truck engine roared in the distance. I glanced in the rearview mirror, noticing the faint glow of headlights breaking through the forlorn trees swaying in the wind.

"I've got to get out of here," Rose whispered in a voice filled with dread. "Don't goad him. He's in his daddy's truck, and his daddy always keeps a loaded gun in the glove box."

I opened my mouth, ready to instruct her to get in the Jeep, but I was too late. Rose's eyes widened and her face paled. She stumbled backwards, her hands still clinging to her ripped shirt. She darted from the bridge, turning once to gaze solemnly at our group, pressing a long finger across her rosy lips before sliding down the embankment. Rose disappeared into the night, beneath the old creaking bridge with the murky waters churning below. We were left alone, glancing at one another with wary, unsure looks lingering on our faces.

The headlights in the distance quickly shone brighter, filtering through the tree branches. The bright beams of the headlights turned the mist a pale white, like a ghost, teasing us as it danced around the rickety bridge. Emmett tossed the bloody shirt in the back seat and told me to pop the hood of the Jeep.

Immediately understanding his intentions, I yanked at the lever with a shaky hand. The Jeep creaked and jerked slightly. Emmett shoved the hood up in the air, vanishing behind the slab of metal. Alice, Kate, and I exchanged a hasty, yet knowing glance.

The three of us hopped from the Jeep just as the wind and mist dramatically increased, surging around us. The sound of the distant engine grew louder, but we feigned ignorance, engrossed in grasping the slick surface of the Jeep cover.

The pickup truck pulled up beside us, roaring and groaning like an angry beast, just as the three of us girls finished struggling to place the top back on the Jeep. I turned, my body full of hate and disgust, knowing who the driver of the truck was and what he'd done to my newest friend. The window rolled down and, just as I expected, Royce King stared back at me.

Royce still had cold, pale blue eyes, although they were almost black from the dilation of his pupils. They were also rimmed in evilness and twitched constantly as they darted from me, Kate, Alice, and back again. His blonde hair was a disheveled mess, swirling around his forehead and brushing against the top of his eyelids. There was a slight difference in the color of his skin as well. It was tinged yellow, with an almost sickly glow to it. He looked a bit thinner too.

He reminded me of Benjamin.

"Why, if it isn't my old friends, the Swans," he purred in a maniacal voice, twisting his fingers anxiously on the steering wheel. "Having a bit of car trouble?"

"Nothing I can't handle, Royce," Emmett replied loudly, slamming the hood closed on the Jeep just as the three of us finished replacing the top. "What brings you to this neck of the woods?"

"Why so friendly, Emmett?" Royce asked suspiciously, shooting Emmett a twisted smile. "The last time I saw you was at the train station. If I remember correctly, you thought you could whip my ass. Do you still think that?"

There was a dangerous edge to his voice, daring my cousin to say the wrong words, in the wrong tone of voice. Rose's comment about Royce having a gun in the vehicle flashed through my mind, and I glanced at Emmett uneasily.

"Nah, man," Emmett told Royce, leaning against the hood of the Jeep and giving him a casual smile. "That was just a misunderstanding...too much beer, too much weed, and a misunderstanding. We're cool."

Royce continued to gaze at Emmett in disbelief, but my cousin was nothing but a picture of innocence. His smile was kind and slightly sheepish, as though he was ashamed of his actions that night, although Royce himself was the one responsible for Kate's hostage situation.

I could feel the heated anger radiating off of Kate in thick, torrid waves. She stood on the opposite side of the Jeep carelessly picking at her fingernails as though she didn't have a care in the world. I knew it was killing Kate to not speak her mind, but the fact that Royce was obviously unstable and allegedly wielding a weapon held her certainly didn't desire a reenactment of the Jacob Black incident.

"So it doesn't bother you that Kate and Bella are dating Garrett and Edward Cullen?" Royce questioned Em as he carefully studied my cousin's face. "Or that Alice is dating Jasper Hale?"

Emmett's hand twitched. It was brief, and unnoticeable to anyone but me, but it was still there.

"Naw, man. It's a free country," Em shrugged, not missing a beat. "They can date whoever they choose to."

"Huh," Royce mumbled, the sinister smile slipping from his face as he shook his head dumbly.

"Fire up the Jeep, Bella, and let's see if I fixed the problem," Em instructed, turning his back to Royce and giving me the death stare.

I nodded, turning away from his indignant glare. After climbing in the Jeep, I fired up the engine and gave Em the thumbs up. Kate and Alice crawled into the Jeep as well, studiously avoiding Royce's interrogating gaze.

"You need anything else, Royce?" Em asked, cocking his head to the side.

Royce peered through the window, narrowing his eyes on Emmett. He then glanced at me, Kate, and Alice, analyzing our every movement, our every breath. He never answered Emmett's question, which was more terrifying above all else. It meant he didn't want us to know he was looking for Rose, for a lost girl on the side of the road.

Royce simply rolled up the dark tinted window, pressed the gas, and crept away. The low rumble of the engine and his taillights disappeared past the old bridge and around the stretch of the winding, muddy road.

I tried to catch Emmett's eye but he ignored me. He darted across the bridge, sliding down the same embankment where Rose had vanished earlier. They re-appeared together minutes later as the three of us waited with bated breath. Rose was hunched over, obviously in pain.

"Kate, hand me my shirt," Em instructed, reaching his waiting hand inside the Jeep.

Kate handed him the bloody shirt, and the three of us watched as Emmett attempted to remove Rose's flimsy, ruined blouse from her body.

"What are you doing?" she gasped, moving away from Emmett.

"I'm trying to help you take off your top," he explained with slightly reddened cheeks. "It's ripped. You can wear my shirt to the hospital."

"Hospital? I'm not going to the hospital," she spit, wincing as she slid her arms from the shirt.

"Oh, yes you are," Emmett insisted, slyly keeping his eyes on her face and away from her bra-clad chest as she scowled at him. "You may have some broken ribs. What if you've punctured a lung? You need some x-rays. You're going to the hospital and we're taking you."

"Just give me a phone and I'll call my brother to pick me up," Rose huffed.

"There's no way we're sitting on this road waiting on Royce to show up again," Emmett argued. "Get in the Jeep. We're going to the hospital."

"No!" Rose hissed between clenched teeth.

"Let me at least take you home, Rose," I spoke up.

"You can't take me home," she responded, giving me a small, weary frown. "The Cullens have family from out of town staying with them and they're...not happy with the situation between your two families."

Rose didn't elaborate, but the few words she'd said spoke volumes. Edward's family wasn't accepting of the relationship between us. They were uneasy with the fact we'd entered into an agreement to work together to take down Aro and James. Edward's earlier irritation wasn't just because Rose had gone missing, he was also under the intense scrutiny of his house guests. My fears had become a reality.

A monumental, exasperated sigh from Kate broke me from my tumultuous inner musings.

"Get in the Jeep, bitch," Kate huffed, scowling at a belligerent Rose. "You're not in any shape to argue. Keep talking and I'll thump you everywhere it hurts."

Rose stared at Kate aghast. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. Her pallid skin burned into a fiery, angry red.

Another clap of thunder and streak of lightning ripped across the sky. The mist dancing in the glow around Rose's blonde head transformed into a light shower. Rose glanced uneasily at the sky and then back at us. Her face hardened as she gave an unsure nod of her head.

Rose winced, gasping for air as Emmett helped her into the backseat of the Jeep. Kate sat beside her, raising a daring eyebrow. Rose frowned, then turned away from Kate as Emmett gingerly wedged his large frame between the two girls.

"Alice, call Jasper," I murmured, ignoring Emmett's heated stare from the backseat as I drove sluggishly over the muddy road. "Tell him we've got Rose and to meet us at the hospital."

Alice nodded, shooting Emmett an unsure look before calling Jasper and speaking quietly into the phone. She ended the call a couple of minutes later. The Jeep was then filled with an awkward silence, other than the occasional wheezing and gasping from the blonde beauty in the backseat.

"I'm sorry, Rose," I apologized, breaking the silence as we eased through Mayhaw and headed in the direction of Birchwood. "My Jeep rides like a logging truck. I'm sorry for the bumpy ride."

"It's alright," Rose wheezed, doubling over as I swerved around a deep pothole in the worn roads of our small town. "Don't apologize for something you can't control."

"Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" Emmett asked, interrupting the conversation between me and Rose. "Is it true? Are y'all seeing the Cullen boys?"

I stared straight ahead, focusing on the road in front of us as my tires hit the gray bridge. The weight of my sister and cousin's troubled eyes fell on me, pressing down like a ton of bricks.

"Yes," Kate sighed, leaning back in the seat and rubbing her forehead in frustration. "We were planning on telling you everything tonight, before we saw_ her _walking down the road."

"How could y'all? How could y'all do such a thing...betray our family like this?" Emmett murmured, shaking his head in disgust.

"You don't know the whole story, Em," I interjected, as the back tires left the bridge and we entered Birchwood. "Everything you know as the truth is really just a lie cooked up by Aro."

"You've got ten minutes until we reach Birchwood Medical Center," Emmett told us in a quiet, controlled voice. "Ten minutes to explain everything. Don't leave anything out."

Kate, Alice, and I took turns hurriedly explaining everything to Emmett. We told him about Nana's safe, and the contents therein. We told him about the evidence linking James to my father's murder, and the fact that Aro, himself, was a Cullen, and not actually a Swan. I explained how my father, Carlisle, and Edward Sr. made an agreement to work alongside one another in the drug business, only to have two of the three men later murdered. Kate even went into detail about Jake's death. All the while Emmett sat listening intently beside Rose, who remained silent, gazing at him with a guarded expression.

"So there's no real evidence linking Aro to Charlie's murder? Or to Edward Sr.'s murder?" Emmett finally questioned, his dimpled face troubled. "You're basically telling me you've put all your faith in the Cullens without any actual evidence."

"What more evidence do you need, Em?" I asked, throwing my hands up in frustration before grabbing the wheel as the Jeep veered slightly. "Why else would he hold on to all the photographs, witness statements, and original, un-doctored police reports linking James to Daddy's death if he wasn't somehow involved?"

"Maybe those police reports aren't un-doctored," Em shrugged. "Maybe the ones on file are real and the ones in the safe are doctored."

"That makes no sense," Alice interrupted, glancing warily at our cousin. "If Aro wanted James in jail for Daddy's murder, he could have him put away already for life. Instead, he's got all this evidence collected against him. Why would he hold on to it unless maybe James has something on him as well?"

"I don't know," Emmett responded. "But don't count your chickens before they're all hatched. It's funny how a little loving from the Cullen boys has blindsided y'all and turned you completely against your own flesh and blood."

"Your cousin, Benjamin, is selling drugs for Aro and James," Rose interrupted in a flat voice.

"That's why Royce attacked me tonight," she continued, ignoring Emmett's reluctant stare. "We left to pick up some pizzas for supper when his cell rang. He told me he had to make a delivery in Oak Bluff. When we made the stop he left his phone in the truck. It started ringing while he was inside and I saw Benjamin's name on the screen. I made the mistake of asking about it when we left the house. Royce freaked out and hit me. When he pulled the truck on the side of the road I jumped out and ran like hell. I bet I walked two miles, hiding in ditches every time I heard his loud truck drive by. Then y'all showed up."

"Ben wouldn't do business with a Cullen," Emmett sneered, glaring at her. "You're lying."

"Whatever," Rose said, gritting her teeth together in pain. "Believe what you want to. I have no reason to lie. I love the Cullens, but I'm not one of them. I'm a Hale, not a Cullen. My dog's not in this race."

The Jeep went silent as I turned off the exit and pulled into the parking lot of Birchwood Medical Center. The two-story complex sprawled across a few acres of land, surrounded by tall pines. The emergency room entrance was lit up like the Fourth of July. The front parking lot only held a handful of vehicles. Two lone ambulances rested beneath the awning of the emergency room, abandoned by its occupants who were probably inside drinking coffee, bored at what little excitement the small county had to offer.

A shiny black Cadillac sat near the exit, the surface gleaming beneath the harsh overhead lighting. A ball of dread formed in my stomach, not at the sight of Carlisle stepping out of the car, but the sight of a strange man who exited the vehicle on the passenger side.

The man was tall and bore a striking resemblance to Carlisle. They shared the same distinguishing features: the blonde hair and cold blue eyes that could pick you apart, limb from limb, with one stern stare. He was much younger than Carlisle, looking to be in his late twenties.

"That's Liam," Rose said, answering my unspoken question as I killed the engine. "Liam Cullen, Carlisle's first-cousin, and the biggest anti-Swan of them all. I'd stay in the Jeep if I were you."

The sight of Edward, emerging from the emergency room with Garrett and Jasper in tow, faded her words into nothing. I grasped the door handle and sprang from the Jeep, but froze at Edward's solemn stare. He shook his head minutely, casting a glance in the direction of Carlisle and Liam.

"Where's my sister?" Jasper hollered frantically, his face a far cry from the calm, collected expression it normally held.

Emmett was helping Rose from the Jeep, but stiffened when Jasper's hands wrapped around his arms. Jasper flung him to the side, as though he wasn't nearly twice Jasper's size. Emmett stumbled against the concrete before regaining his footing.

Rose slowly emerged from the Jeep, battered and bruised, wearing Emmett's shirt. As she turned and planted her feet firmly on the ground, I noticed Emmett's football number and the name 'Swan' plastered against the back of the shirt. Her brother noticed it the same time I did.

That's when Jasper Hale lost his shit.

"You did this! You did this to my sister!" he screamed, his eyes growing round and wild. "She almost died once! I won't let it happen again!"

Jasper threw a steady punch upward, smacking Emmett in his jaw. I gasped, reaching out to stop him, but Jasper shoved me carelessly to the side. I fell to the ground, watching in horror as the two men broke into a scuffle, exchanging curses and blows.

Rose and Alice began crying, begging Jasper to stop, but it was as if we weren't there. Kate held the two of them back from the tussle with a look of pure disgust on her face. Edward and Garrett quickly arrived at Jasper's side, pulling and tugging on him until they effectively pinned him to the ground.

"Royce called and told me everything!" Jasper screamed, spittle flying from his mouth as he struggled against Edward and Garrett. "He told me you attacked my sister in the parking lot of the pizza parlor! I'll kill you, Swan, if it's the last thing I ever do!"

I heard my sister's sobs, Rose begging for Jasper's understanding, and the ragged breathing of Emmett as he glowered at the group of men before us. Two security guards and a man wearing kelly-green scrubs darted outside, somehow alerted to the events unfolding on the hospital property. The security guards jerked Jasper to his feet, escorting him inside behind Rose, who was sobbing and limping in the arms of the scrub-clad man.

"This is exactly what I was talking about, Edward," a smooth, honey-coated voice spoke up. "Those Swans are nothing but trouble."

The man named Liam gave me a cold, hard stare. He leaned against the Cadillac, glaring at me in disdain, as though I were nothing but dirt on the bottom of his shoe.

"You know what you have to do, son," Carlisle added, sternly, pulling a cigar from his breast pocket and lighting it. "Finish it."

Carlisle smiled at me, a tortured, curling smile, before sliding back inside the vehicle. The remaining smoke from his cigar drifted in the air, mixing with the rain.

Edward nodded. His face was hard, his chiseled features firm.

I stared up at him from the ground for a moment as he approached me. His copper hair was wet with rain, slick and shining in a wickedly seductive mess. The moisture dripped from his hair, trailing down his forehead, softening his long, sweeping lashes. The lean muscles in his arms and chest pressed against his shirt, soaking wet from the rain that picked up speed. It whipped around us, as the wind sucked it beneath the outside awning of the emergency room. The friction of the water slapped bitterly across my stinging face.

Edward offered his hand, gazing down at me with a blank expression. I reached up, grabbing his hand, my chest tight with fright as he pulled me to my feet. He released his grip, backed away, and cast a glance at those who surrounded us.

"Just leave, Bella," he whispered, his soft words tearing through the rain. "Leave before you get hurt. It's over. I can't do this anymore."

"No," I whispered, frozen in shock, in denial.

Edward stood with his weight on one hip, staring away...as far away from me as he could. Resolution painted his features, crippling me. It stabbed me in the chest, tearing into the tenderness of my heart, and ripping me in half. My very soul was torn, ragged and shattered. If I'd died at that very moment it would have been a sweet relief from the torment brewing inside.

"You're my best friend, my soulmate...how can you just walk away? How can you walk away from us? From this?" I cried, reaching forward.

My hand stilled in the wet air as he took a step back, continuing to avoid my face, my touch.

"What happened with Jasper..." I continued, but he quickly quieted me with his own words.

"This has nothing to do with Jasper," he insisted, meeting my gaze for the first time as his mossy green eyes stared soullessly into mine. "We can't do this, Bella. It's too dangerous for you. My family...your family...if something were to happen to you..."

"Where's that reckless boy?" I cried, wiping the tears and the rain from my face with the back of my hand. "Where's that boy who doesn't care? The boy who says 'fuck the consequences?'"

"He's still here," Edward insisted, glancing over to where our families stood listening, gaping at us. "He's also the same guy who'd die if anything happened to you. I can't live in a world without you in it. If it means being apart, that's a risk I'll have to take. Just promise me one thing."

"What?" I moaned.

"Promise me you'll be careful," he whispered, taking a step forward and grasping my small hand, entwining his long, warm fingers through my small cold ones. "Promise me you'll take care of yourself."

I nodded, cold and uncaring about my own safety. I nodded for him, to make an unspoken promise to a boy who was about to walk away from me, shattering the only true love I'd ever known in my entire life.

Edward released my limp, lifeless fingers, then cupped my face in his hands. He tilted my face upward, forcing my gaze to meet his. Those green orbs stared into me, pricking my very soul.

A mixture of emotions played across his face as his eyes darted over my features one last time. Edward pulled my body to his, brushing his lips against my forehead as I sobbed into the hard planes of his chest, fisting his wet shirt in my hands.

Then he was gone. He pulled away, avoiding my gaze once more. With hands shoved deeply into his wet, worn jeans, he entered through the emergency room doors. They breezed open, leaving a swooshing sound ringing through the air. He never looked back as I watched him walk away.

I stood there, beneath the wind, thunder, and rain, pressing my hand against the place where my heart once rested. It pounded frantically against my palm, but it wasn't real. It wasn't real. The rush of blood as it screamed in my ears and churned through my veins wasn't real. Nothing was real. It was all gone. He took it. When Edward walked away, he took my very existence with him.

Kate dragged me to the Jeep, shooting daggers at Liam who watched with amusement. We left the remaining Cullen man where he stood, watching as we climbed into the Jeep. Kate pulled herself behind the wheel and drove us back to Mayhaw.

Kate, Emmett, and his swollen jaw were enraged. They jabbered constantly about the events that transpired that night. Alice was silent, except for the occasion murmurings about the violent storm pressing against us. I said nothing, because I was dead. Dead inside. A shell of a person who couldn't exist without her other half.

Once home, I hid away in the warm confines of my bedroom, numbing the pain in the only way I knew how. I lit a blunt with quivering, rain-wrinkled fingers, and took a deep drag of the heavenly, intoxicating substance. I fell against my bedroom wall, cursing as my sopping wet head hit the wood behind it.

I _wished_ I could be martyr, a girl who could face these obstacles headstrong, embracing my end with dignity. A martyr would welcome her death, going towards it willingly. Then I would have no more memory of this pain. I'd rather be numb...anesthetic. Empty.

But Bella Swan was no martyr.

Closing my eyes, I let the weed take me away, infiltrating my body and making the world a slightly better place; a place where my father was still alive, my mother loved me, and Edward never left my side. Maybe I was a coward, choosing momentary tranquility over the gut-wrenching hurt. I found that I no longer cared. Cowardliness means nothing to a girl with a broken heart.

I felt a vibration in my wet, shorts pocket and realized my phone was hidden deep inside. After taking another drag from the blunt, I removed the cell from my damp clothes and glanced down at the screen.

My cold, dead heart began churning once more as I stared down at the glowing words. It was only two words. Two simple words that gave me so much hope.

_Play along - Edward_

* * *

Y'all didn't think I'd let them break up...did you?

Thanks, AliCat0623 for all your beta work. I forgive you for the rude text you sent me after reading this chapter. Maybe you should go get your faulty heart checked out ;)

Hoodfabulous Fic Rec: Southern Comfort. Bella is a feisty New Yorker and Edward is a Southern playboy. Alice is my fave character. She can quote Snoop Dogg like it's the scripture! A must-read if you're into humor, romance, a smidge of drama, and good-old 90's music! It's also COMPLETE! Written by JiffyKate, two of the sweetest Southern fanfiction writers ever! Go check the fic out and leave them some love!

What are your thoughts on the chapter? Sorry if I gave you a heart-fail! You know I love y'all

Peace and Love,

Jhood


	20. Chapter 20: Velocity

_Previously, in Chapter Nineteen... _

_It was only two words. Two simple words that gave me so much hope._

_Play along - Edward_

* * *

**Chapter Twenty: Velocity**

_Deceiving others._

_That is what_

_the world calls_

_a romance._

_~Oscar Wilde~_

**EPOV**

Liam Cullen arrived in Birchwood just days before Rose's attack, with our various other relatives on his heels. Liam was a monster with an angel's smile. He was the leader of a large notorious group of thugs living near the Mississippi-Alabama state line. The gang was fondly known as the Rowdy Boys, although they were far from being boys anymore. They were the most clever of thieves, stealing anything from automobiles to artwork without leaving a hint of evidence behind. They were also the most ruthless of drug traffickers in the South. He was so intimidating that I suspected even Carlisle was somewhat frightened of him. Liam was the kind of person you'd rather have as a friend instead of an enemy.

Liam was infamous for his cold, uncaring personality. He cared nothing for the people he slaughtered. They were purely victims of circumstance, only standing in the way of the things he wanted out of life: money, drugs, and women.

Carlisle explained to Liam the circumstances involving Charlie Swan's death and James Cullen's involvement. Liam was cool and unconcerned. Charlie Swan's death was an understandable event in Liam's opinion. Charlie was one of the many people who stood James's way of obtaining what he wanted at that time, which was Renee Swan. This was something Liam could so easily relate to for he would let no man stand in the way of obtaining what he wanted in life as well.

Liam was also completely unconvinced James had anything to do with my father's murder. There was no evidence, he'd said, other than the words of a filthy Swan; a filthy Swan who'd weaseled her way into my life.

I'd grown outraged, cursing and spitting, full of nothing but vengeance and darkness. Carlisle had silenced me with one brief look that told me so much: be quiet, be still, have patience.

It wasn't until later that night that I learned the full depth of Liam's hatred for the Swan family.

We were all standing around the kitchen listening to Esme bribe Rose and Royce, whom Rose had been dating for the past two months, into picking up a few pizzas and some pasta for supper.

Esme was utterly overwhelmed after the violent display between Liam and I earlier in the day. She ultimately burned everything on the stove, something that was unsurprising to all of us, including our relatives from out of town. She called in the food order, eventually convincing Rose and Royce into picking it up.

I sat at the bar fuming. I'd brooded in my bedroom for a bit, but I became paranoid that Liam would leave the house and murder my girlfriend. I shouldn't have been concerned that he himself would harm Bella. He was too slick to do something like that. In the end, he'd probably follow the same path Aro Swan travelled by hiring someone else to do the dirty work. Either way, I refused to let him out of my sight for another minute.

Carlisle shot me a covert glance just as Liam whispered something in his ear. I saw Carlisle's eyes dart to the staircase. There was a door there that few people knew anything about. Carlisle's eyes met mine for another brief second before he gave Liam a minute nod.

I slipped from the bar stool, casually leaving the kitchen. As I drew near the staircase, I glanced one last time to where Carlisle and Liam stood. Neither man glanced my way; they were completely absorbed in their own whispered conversation.

With my back against the staircase I pressed my palm against a piece of carved, decorative molding. The hidden door on the paneled wall silently opened, just a bit, and I slipped inside unnoticed.

Soft blue light filled the stairway and part of the room below. I blinked my eyes a couple of times struggling to adjust my vision.

The filtration system hummed steadily in the distance. I took in a deep breath, inhaling the comforting scent of weed and dark soil. Long tables covered in large, budding plants covered the grow room which was divided by a dummy wall. Past the dummy wall sat a flowering room, which held the flowering marijuana plants. These plants flourished under harsh, red lamps.

My favorite childhood hiding spot, the one place Jasper and Garrett never found during our younger days of playing hide-and-seek, lay just below the stairway. There was another hidden doorway, one that no one knew of besides Carlisle Cullen and his adoptive son. I, his nephew, was the man who would someday take his place if that was the direction I chose to take. I slipped in the tiny, empty room and waited.

Within minutes I heard Carlisle and Liam's heavy footfalls on the stairs just above my head. Their expensive leather loafers left the bottom step and scuffed against the concrete floor. I held my breath, anxious to hear their words. It wasn't long until the two men spoke, standing near the very door I hid behind.

"We need to end this, Carlisle," Liam told my uncle patiently, unaware of my presence nearby as I stealthily listened in. "Either they break it off with these girls or I'll break it off for them."

Liam's words set my blood on fire. I clenched my teeth, biting the inside of my mouth until I tasted the metallic warmth of my own blood .

"They've got adolescent crushes, Liam," Carlisle laughed. "Nothing more, nothing less. There's no sense in hurting a bunch of kids over a petty feud between old men."

"Petty," Liam spat. "The Swan men have set us up, whoring out their own daughters, making our family look like a bunch of damned old fools. How easily you forget how many relatives of ours have died over the years because of that family!"

"What do they have to gain from fooling us, dear cousin?" Carlisle asked, a hint of degrading amusement in his voice. "Do you truly believe they've forged the documents in the Swan safe? I can assure you, those documents are authentic. I not only have the copies, but I examined the originals myself. Aro Swan is my brother, and a blood relative of yours, whether any of us like it or not."

"Aro Swan ain't no kin to me," Liam hissed. "I don't know what their intentions are. Things have been quiet over the years. Aro's probably been biding his time, ready to restart the war again that ended with the death of Charlie Swan."

"Aro hates us for the sheer fact that he's a Cullen," Carlisle said. "I doubt he's ready for a war though. He's been sitting pretty in Mayhaw all these years, slinging his drugs, and staying on his side of the bridge. He killed his own flesh and blood, not with his own hands, but he killed him nevertheless. Aro never suspected his own nieces would give us that information. If he wanted another war he could have started it a long time ago by turning in his evidence on James. No, Aro doesn't want a war. He and James are working together. They've been conspiring together for years. They got rid of Charlie for their own separate reasons. Aro kept the evidence in case James ever double-crossed him. Why are you so blind to this?"

"When James gets back from Texas we'll straighten all this out," Liam replied, snubbing his question. "Until then, either those boys drop the Swan girls or I'll drop the girls_ for_ them. From the look on Edward's face, he ain't going to let that gal go without a fight. Edward's pushing my hand, forcing me to make the decision for him."

Their conversation eventually died away as I lingered in the tiny room. My heart pounded against my chest, infuriated at the thought of any harm coming to Bella. I checked my cell constantly, waiting for any sign that it was safe to rejoin my family upstairs.

I knew Carlisle like the back of my hand. I received a text from him ten minutes later confirming the coast was clear. I shot back upstairs and rejoined my family, all except Liam. He was upstairs taking a shower, although I doubted any amount of bathing could wash the filth from that dirty scoundrel.

In the time Liam spent upstairs, Garrett, Jasper, and I fought for an idea on how we could convince him of the girls' innocence. We sat in the living room deep in discussion, avoiding our female relatives who laughed and chatted in the kitchen, and our male relatives who stood on the back deck smoking cigars and shooting the shit.

In the midst of our conversation Jasper's cell rang. He answered it, speaking quietly as his eyes darted between mine and Garrett's. Jasper's face turned pale, his lips turned white. The paleness was quickly replaced by redness, creeping from his neck to his cheeks.

"Alice, Bella, Kate, and Emmett found Rose on the side of the road," he spat, ending the call. "Royce King attacked Rose and she ran. They're taking her to the hospital."

At first I was furious, but the hatred was instantly replaced by a spark of hope. An idea crept into my mind, prodding and tugging at my brain. My face twisted into a sinister smile that confused Jasper and Garrett. I glanced to the kitchen, appeased to find our family still engaged in their own conversation.

"Don't let on that you know Royce hurt Rose," I instructed quietly as Jasper's eyes narrowed on mine. "I have a plan."

"What's the plan?" Garrett asked.

"Use the anger you feel towards Royce," I instructed Jasper solemnly, the two of them leaning in to listen to my softly spoken words. "You'll need that anger...but you're going to take it out on someone different. You'll have to do this to ensure Alice's safety, to ensure all their safety."

Jasper nodded solemnly at my words. I hurriedly explained exactly how we'd fool Liam into believing we were finished with our girls. It was a sick plan, using someone we loved in a dangerously weak endeavor to save others that we loved, but it was all we had.

In the end, Rose's attack became the perfect ploy.

~o0o0o0o0o0o~

"Do you think they bought it?" Garrett asked, his hazel eyes boring into mine as we followed Rose and the others through the lobby of the emergency room.

"Who, Carlisle and Liam or Bella, Kate, Alice, and Emmett?" I asked, glancing around for any sign of potential eavesdroppers.

"Carlisle and Liam," Garrett whispered, breaking our gaze by keeping his eyes trained on the mud-stained lobby floor. "Do you think they could tell it was all a ruse? Could they sense that Jasper was faking?"

"I don't know, but we need to talk to Rose. Fast," I muttered, my gaze darting around the lobby. "Carlisle and Liam will be in here as soon as they park the car. I don't know how in the hell Carlisle is going to convince Liam not to kill Emmett Swan for thinking he hit Rose. I need to explain to Carlisle that it was all a hoax, just as soon as we get a minute alone."

"Do you care?" Garrett asked, his voice laced with curiosity. "Do you care if Liam offs Emmett?"

"No," I replied smoothly, callously. "Better him than Bella."

It was the truth. I held no ill will towards Emmett Swan. He was just a victim of circumstance, a mere pawn in a facade that we'd so hastily devised in hopes of saving our girls.

Bella's face flashed through my mind. I'd left her in front of the emergency room, rain-soaked with tiny tendrils of hair stuck to her face. Her clothes were plastered against her body. Her face was soaked with rain water and tears. It was the hardest thing I'd ever done, leaving her standing in the midst of a storm, gasping for air, her face broken and crumbled, but I did it. I did it for her, for us. I only hoped she'd forgive me in the end.

Shoving my thoughts aside, I glanced around the hospital lobby, noticing it was practically deserted. The only occupants sitting in the horribly uncomfortable waiting room chairs was a troubled young mother wearing muddy flip-flops, holding a screaming baby in her arms. She rocked him, trying to offer comfort.

The wife-beater she wore was rain-soaked and practically transparent. Her brown locks were wrapped in a messy bun at the nape of her neck, hanging dismally down as she peered wearily at the infant she rocked in her thin arms.

A group of bored looking nurses chatted quietly to one another near the front desk, their attention suddenly drawn to us as we strolled past. Their eyes widened in recognition, because that's the way things worked around Birchwood.

People knew us. They knew the rumors about us. They made their judgements, but continued to smile in our face, staring at us with wistful eyes. I despised them for their vanity, their obsession with danger, how careless they were with their own lives. They were sheep and we were the wolves.

Bella was different. As soon as it dawned on her who I was she ran, rejecting me and pushing me aside. After our reunion on the pier, I mistakenly thought she was like everyone else, making assumptions about me because of my last name.

Then she ran. Others would have flocked to me, attracted by the sheer magnetism of the danger the Cullen name alone exuded, but not Bella Swan. She wanted nothing to do with me or my family, the same family who murdered her father...or so she thought at the time.

Bella was the one and only woman I'd ever loved, apart from my Esme, Rose, and my mother. There'd been other girls over the years...girls I fooled around with, touching and tasting. I'd bring them home, spread them on my bed, all the while fighting against the angel who sat on one shoulder, and the demon who sat on the other.

There was no sense in fighting the angels in heaven above or the demons in hell below. In the end I waited, holding back for the person I was born to be with.

Those other girls failed to hold my attention for very long. They all wanted the same thing from me. I was nothing but a conquest to them, which is why I always denied giving those girls the only thing they all so violently desired.

Bella's earlier words repeated through my mind. Soul mate. Soul mate. There was no other way to term the phrase for what we were. We were one. Two halves of the same spirit, bound together by a love so powerful it may destroy us all. There was a new threat to our love. His name was Liam Cullen.

I temporarily forced Liam from my thoughts as Garrett and I arrived in the small examining room. Rose lay on a hospital bed, her face streaked with mascara. She was scowling and crying all at once. Jasper was nowhere to be found. Security dragged him off somewhere, in a vain attempt to calm his misplaced aggression. As soon as the nurse shuffled away, I quickly filled Rose in.

"You need to shut up and listen to me," I told her firmly, glancing at Garrett who stood watch near the doorway of the room. "We know Emmett didn't lay a hand on you. Alice called Jasper and told him they found you, but we told Carlisle and Liam that Emmett Swan beat you up."

"I know Alice called you! I was there! Why would you tell them Emmett Swan hit me? Why would you do that?" Rose asked, her eyes round and worried.

"We had to come up with a story convincing enough to fool Liam," I quietly explained. "We told Carlisle and Liam that Royce called and told Jasper Emmett Swan attacked you in the parking lot of the pizza parlor. We used that lie to trick Liam. We needed something dramatic, something believable to make him think we're finished with the Swans for good. Liam bought it, hook, line, and sinker."

"Whose idea was this?" Rose questioned, annoyance evident in her voice.

"Mine," I admitted. "I swear on my mother's grave I'll kill Royce for hurting you, if Jasper or Emmett Swan doesn't kill him first."

"So Bella doesn't know it was all a lie?" she asked, her face growing redder beneath her swollen jaw as she ignored my death threat against her boyfriend.

"No, not yet," I confirmed.

"You're all a bunch of idiots," she fumed. "You broke her heart, put an innocent guy in danger, and let my attacker go free, and for what?"

"For what?" I laughed, growing angry at her words. "Liam was hinting at killing them. He's out for blood, pissed off to find out Aro Swan is a Cullen and infuriated that we're involved with his nieces. What was I supposed to do?"

"Call her," Rose responded, just as Garrett cleared his throat, alerting us of Carlisle and Liam's oncoming appearance.

I nodded, solaced by the fact that Rose knew the truth of the situation at hand and exuberant for the small window of opportunity I had to tell Bella the scene in front of the emergency room was nothing but a hastily devised hoax. I quickly pulled out my phone, opting for the quicker option of texting rather than calling.

As it turns out, I wasn't able to go into detail about the earlier events at all. My text was brief. I didn't have but a few terse seconds before Carlisle and Liam entered the room. I heard their voices drifting into the examining room from only a few feet away. The text held only two words; two words that I could only hope gave her some sort of comfort and relief from the pain and confusion I'd caused.

_Play along - Edward_

* * *

Thanks Ali for cleaning up my mess!

WIP rec- The Songs of Our Lives by luvtwilight4eva. I'm loving this story, although I can tell just by the disclaimers and the first couple of chapters that it's gonna hurt a little (which I love). Check it out and leave the author some love. It's her first fic and beautifully written!

So what did you think about the chapter? Did it clear up some questions? Was Edward wrong for what he did? Leave me some lurve!


	21. Chapter 21: What Looms Ahead

_Previously, in Chapter Twenty..._

_As it turns out, I wasn't able to go into detail about the earlier events at all. My text was brief. I didn't have but a few terse seconds before Carlisle and Liam entered the room. I heard their voices drifting into the examining room from only a few feet away. The text held only two words; two words that I could only hope gave her some sort of comfort and relief from the pain and confusion I'd caused._

_Play along - Edward_

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-One: What Looms Ahead**

_War does not_

_determine who is right -_

_only who is left._

_~Bertrand Russell~_

Time is a funny thing. Sometimes it rushes by like the stream that ran behind Nana's house, cascading through the muck and rocks. Sometimes it drifts lazily like dust, silhouetted by the sunlight filtering through the trees. One thing that never changes is that it's always there, whether it speeds by or crawls at a snail's pace.

I lay on my bed contemplating the time that had eased by since I last heard from Edward. August came and with it came the reality of just how dismal my life had become since his departure. My mother was true to her word, something rare for her. Alice's check never arrived and I was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

The hours I'd put in during the summer at Nana's shop were gone. I was now a part-time employee, attending school until just after lunch and working a handful of hours at the shop in the evening. The bills continued to pile up and our ancient washing machine quit working, but worse than anything was the depression my sister had slowly slipped into.

Jasper was gone. He'd left for college as planned. There were no farewells, no parting words. We'd only heard of his departure through word of mouth.

Needless to say, I thought I handled Edward's disappearance from my life well, considering. I never was the type to curl up in a ball and feel sorry for myself. I also held on to that last text, glancing at it from time to time. It gave me hope that it wasn't the end of me and Edward Cullen. Faith replaced Marie as my middle name.

Alice and Kate were a different story.

Kate was infuriated by the events that took place the night we found Rose. She'd grown to spite Garrett, who she claimed to have not heard from as well.

As a form of retribution to her long-lost beau, she'd started dating a guy named Seth, a transfer student from Birchwood. I secretly believed she only did this so Garrett would hear it through the grapevine.

Although she went out on plenty of dates with Seth, I knew she had yet to mess around with him...sexually speaking, which was something the old Kate would have already done. Kate couldn't fool me. She loved Garrett Cullen, whether she chose to accept it or not.

It wasn't as though we hadn't tried to contact the Cullens. It's hard to contact people whose phones were disconnected. Edward's ominous text was the last form of communication any of us had with the Cullen boys.

With time came the thick, tension-filled aura of impending doom. It stifled our town like a foreboding, heavy fog. I knew in my heart there was an impending war between my relatives and the Cullens. I heard the whispers between my uncles from time to time on the nights we spent together enjoying an evening meal at Nana's house. Edward's relatives were still in town and it had the Swan men in a tizzy.

Aro continued to gaze at me with a suspicious, hardened expression from time to time, but he must have been thrown off kilter by the absence of the roaring fire which no longer burned as brightly in my eyes. I hadn't given up hope for Edward, but the raging inferno was gone, only to be replaced by a small flicker of a flame.

Still, no matter how dimly the light shone in my eyes, I knew Edward would return, and with him would come the war. It was coming, whether we were prepared for it or not. Only time could tell when it would begin...but until then, at least I had the safety of Charlie Swan's gun.

Meeting the cold, hard eyes of Edward's relative the night we carried Rose to the emergency room was the turning point for me. I'd spent the last few months under the impression that Aro Swan and James Cullen were the only people I should concern myself with. I'd been mistaken.

I couldn't take Daddy's piece of steel with me everywhere. There was school to think about. The gun stayed safely tucked away in my glove box during those hours. I worried that Alice would get her hands on it, but I'd come to another realization during my time away from Edward. I couldn't protect my sister from everything. To be honest, I was tired of even trying.

I didn't see Edward again until Homecoming night. I'll never forget the date. It was August the seventeenth. That day would be forever ingrained in the deep recesses of my mind.

It was the day someone I loved with my whole heart would die.

I awoke that morning feeling a bit better than usual. It was the first football game of the season and Mayhaw was abuzz with anticipation. The townsfolk were brimming over with rowdy excitement for the opportunity to beat Birchwood, ironically enough. In hindsight I should have known that night would be a turning point of some sorts. I guess what they say is true; hindsight really is twenty-twenty.

It was typical for the teachers on game day to pretty much do nothing but hang out in the halls during class time and gossip about the night ahead. Class time was virtually non-existent. I spent the majority of the day doodling Edward's eyes in the margins of my notebook. I never got them right. Smudges from the pencil lead marred the white paper where I'd erased the doodles from the white lined paper over and over.

The football players were all decked out in their crisp white shirts, ties, and khaki pants, one of the many rules the coach implemented on game day. They wore their red and yellow team jerseys over their dress clothes during the pep rally alone, unless they had a girlfriend somewhere in the crowd. If so, she had the privilege of flouncing around wearing her boyfriend's jersey.

I was a bit jealous of my classmates. How my life had changed in just a few short months. It wasn't long ago when I was much like them, carefree, living for the moment, my only concerns lying with my sister's mental health.

The teachers were at least intelligent enough to have the pep rally in the school gym instead of the football stadium. Cleaning up after a pep rally can be a real bitch. The football players emerged from the locker rooms hidden behind the bleachers. The crowd erupted in cheers as they strutted out, stern-faced; game faces, I supposed. They sat on the edge of the gym floor in metal folding chairs like the high school royalty they were.

I sat in the bleachers, ducking as rolls of toilet paper flew by me, and chuckling as one hit the back of Emmett's head. He rubbed the back of his head and scowled, glancing up the bleachers and locking eyes with me. He gave me a lopsided grin that I returned. He turned back to the gym floor, watching as the cheerleaders performed their basket tosses and other various stunts across the gleaming wooden surface.

"He's gonna kick Royce King's ass tonight," Kate told me in a loud whisper as everyone around us started stomping their feet in rhythm to Queen's 'We Will Rock You.'

"What?" I hollered back over the thunderous roar.

"Em. He's gonna kick Royce's ass at the game tonight," Kate repeated. "I'm not talking about on the field either. After the game, it's on."

Royce King. Em hadn't mentioned Royce's name since the night we found Rose, battered and beaten, on the old bridge. Em had been eerily quiet since then, his thunderous emotions somehow held back. I wondered if game night would be the boiling point for Em. Would he no longer sit back so unassuming?

"How do you know he'll be there?" I asked, a nervous knot forming in my throat.

"Oh, he'll be there," Kate laughed, her eyes sparkling evilly. "Royce King never misses a game against Mayhaw."

That's what I was afraid of.

~o0o0o0o0o~

The town was painted in our team colors. Red and yellow streamers, balloons, and signs covered the windows, doors, and light posts down Main Street. I sped through town feeling the first hint of something other than misery in weeks. Excitement, intrigue, and danger consumed me.

Angie was waiting for me on her rickety front porch in front of Emma Jean's crappy little trailer. Emma Jean was infamous for taking in foster kids for the monthly check it entailed. Not that it mattered. Emma was good to Angie. She made sure Angie had food and clothes, although the tiny seventies-style mobile home was a little cramped and overcrowded with foster kids.

Angie was on the color guard and dressed well for the occasion. The red and yellow sequined outfit she wore glinted beneath the beams of a broken moon.

"You look like some messed up version of a Bratz doll," I joked as she pulled herself into the Jeep.

Her face was coated in red and yellow glitter, sparkling on her eyes and cheeks. Angie scowled, rolled her eyes, and checked her thick makeup in the rearview mirror.

"They make us wear heavy makeup on the field," she huffed, tossing her billowing flags in the backseat. "Where's Alice?"

"Sitting at home feeling sorry for herself," I told her honestly. "She's still in bed, where she's been all day."

I'd filled Angie in on the events of this past summer since the night we were all at the train station. I felt guilty for not spending as much time with my friend as I had during the previous summers, but I couldn't regret the amount of time I'd spent with Edward. I knew I'd see him again, and when I did I planned on wringing his neck for the stress he'd placed me under, whether it was necessary stress or not.

I dropped Angie off at the field and killed some time hanging out with Kate, Jess, and Lauren on the sidelines. They were busily putting finishing touches on the gigantic paper banner the football players would run through near the goalpost. The banner had already been painted. All it lacked was each player's name and football number. Kate's artistic abilities were put to use on the banner. She painted most of the gigantic bobcat, snarling like a demon animal as his sharp claws sliced though the rival mascot, a badger.

I finished the banner after writing Em's name and number in huge block-style letters. The girls toted the banner away after we finished. Their short, pleated cheerleading skirts grazed the back of their thighs as they beamed and waved to the crowd.

I made my way up the bleachers and plopped down next to Nana who had yet to miss any of her grandchildren's sporting events, whether it be Kate's track or cheerleading competitions, or Em and Ben's football games.

Kate being a cheerleader was pretty ironic, considering she was the least cheerful person I had ever met. She was, however, a bit of an attention whore and basked in the popularity that the short-skirted, hair bow-wearing girls seemed to evoke.

Ben continued to look pale and sickly, although a little less so than the previous month. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that he remained on drugs. I wondered how much money my family was 'donating' to the school to ensure he passed the drug tests required of the team members.

They all made me sick.

The game started minutes later just as the sun sank behind the bleachers. Everyone stood as the announcer introduced the Mayhaw football team. The boys tore through the massive painted paper banner that the cheerleaders held at each end. Everyone stood, cheering and stomping their feet while I sat with my rear plastered to the metal, scrolling through my phone in boredom.

The game began and I struggled to pay attention, but as usual my mind was a million miles away. I glanced down at the chain-linked fence that surrounded the football field. Aro, Felix, Marcus, and Alec, Ben and MaKenna's father, were leaning on the fence, smiling and chatting to one another and the group of onlookers that flocked on each side of them. Ben sat on the sidelines absently playing with a bottle of water, twisting it nervously in his hands.

I watched as Aro removed his phone from his pocket, glancing down at the screen. My brow bunched in curiosity and confusion as the color drained from his face. He pocketed the phone and replaced the slack-jawed expression with one of cool indifference. He muttered something to Marcus who nodded absently, his eyes never leaving the field where Emmett scored the first touchdown of the night.

Aro's head began to turn and my gut told me to avert my gaze. I did and stared at the field with a forced smile on my face. I counted to ten before my eyes darted back to where Aro stood, but he was gone. Aro had shuffled away, disappearing into the thick crowd. I frantically searched the crowd until I noticed his dark mop of hair stealthily sliding through gates near the concession stand, vanishing into the dark parking lot nearby.

My phone buzzed in my hands, causing me to let out a little yelp of shock. Nana's eyes landed on mine and I gave her a sheepish smile. A strange sense of discomfort still lingered between the two of us, but we'd come to a wordless amicable amends of sorts. Neither one of us brought up the safe or my father's death, avoiding the talk we both so desperately needed to have.

Nana shifted her attention back to the game. I gazed down at the phone, half expecting to find a whiny text from my sister, begging me to pick her up and bring her to the game. Instead, I found a text with an unfamiliar number glowing back at me.

_You look beautiful tonight._

_Thanks. My boyfriend thinks so. - Bella_

_You have a boyfriend? Should I be jealous?_

_No. You should be scared. He'd totally kick your ass. Who is this? - Bella_

_If you don't know who it is how do you know your boyfriend could kick my ass?_

_Because my boyfriend is bulletproof. - Bella_

_Is his name Edward?_

I nearly dropped the phone as the name 'Edward' popped up on the screen. My eyes darted around the crowd but I found no one staring at me...but I could feel it. I felt someone's eyes lingering on me. My flesh erupted in goosebumps, creeping across my skin, causing the hair on the back of my neck to stand up. The phone vibrated again and my stomach twisted in nervousness as I read the words.

_Elementary school playground. Ten minutes. Be there. Tell no one._

I didn't ask who the sender was. I knew it was Edward...at least, I hoped it was. Then again, it could all be a set-up, a perfectly disguised plan to lure me from the safety of the bleachers, and the friends and family that surrounded me.

In the end it didn't matter.

"I'm gonna grab a drink at the concession stand," I told my grandmother, drawing her attention momentarily from the game at hand. "You want anything?"

I knew she wouldn't. She was too paranoid about her weakened bladder and the massive amount of steps she'd have to descend and then climb again in order to drink a Coke.

Nana absently shook her head and I left her in the stands, fighting with my rapidly thumping heart as I slowly walked down the incline of the bleachers. I shot my uncles a casual smile and wave as I passed them by, which they returned. The line in front of the concession stand was miraculously short. I paid for my Coke and dipped through the open gate, never looking back.

It was strangely quiet outside the stadium. The only sounds were the distant cheers of the crowd and the disembodied echoes of the announcer. I stumbled across loose slag on the side of the road, shoving my hands in my jeans as I crept closer to the elementary school. Aro's truck wasn't parked where I'd seen it earlier, giving me a tremendous sense of relief.

My feet hit the dew-soaked grass of a small football practice field that stood nearby. I disappeared around the corner of the brick elementary building, halting abruptly as I glanced around.

A child's playground is a terrifying thing at night. The swings on the large metal swing set creaked and rocked softly against a gentle breeze as though ghost children pressed their feet languidly against the worn red dirt below. The merry-go-round trembled slightly against the stiff summer breeze. All else was silent and still aside from the shift of a dark figure perched on a nearby picnic table.

His skin was pale in the moonlight, glowing and almost translucent, like an angel. He was beautiful; his high cheekbones, lush pink lips were pulled into a lazy grin. Even through the darkness I felt his green eyes penetrating me, and I cursed my own heart for swelling in my chest because I was supposed to be pissed. I was supposed to be angry with him, the man I loved, for leaving me out of the loop, confusing me with wild tales of my flesh and blood beating his adoptive sister, leaving me with nothing but an ominous text to ease my troubled mind.

"You jackass!" I hissed, stomping across the playground until I stood between his slightly parted legs on the picnic table. "How dare you! Do you know how upset I've been? How pissed off I am? I don't know whether I want to kiss you or wring your neck!"

Edward slid easily from the picnic table, brushing his body fully against mine. I took a step back, but he caught my arm, pressing me against him.

Swallowing the lump that formed in my throat, I opened my mouth, ready to give him another piece of my mind, but it was too late. He captured my mouth with his. The anger didn't fully disappear, but it did dissipate quite a bit. He tasted of weed and mint gum, a strangely hypnotizing combination. I moaned, melting into him.

His hands traveled up my sides, tangling in my hair as he forced my face closer to his. Our kiss was needy and wanton. His tongue danced with mine, our teeth clashing together at times. I bit his lip, angry for the way he made me feel: hurt, horny, bitter, happy. I wanted nothing more than to punish him for the way he treated me, then mend him back to health.

"I hate you," I gasped, pulling my mouth away from his.

"You don't," he whispered, locking his eyes with my own.

"I want to," I admitted as the jerk chuckled.

"You could never," he smirked.

"Don't push your luck," I grumbled.

He laughed, removing his fingers from my hair and tilting my chin upward.

"Let's go somewhere," he said, his voice barely a whisper, a quiet plea. "I need you. I need you."

My traitorous body tingled at his words. I needed him too. I needed him in the worst way; hard, inside me, showing me, no, proving to me how much he really missed me, how sympathetic he was to my aching heart.

"Will you tell me what happened? What happened the night I found Rose?" I inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"I'll explain everything," he promised. "Did you lose faith in me? Do you still trust me?"

"I do," I whispered.

I did. I trusted him completely.

Hand in hand we left the park, slipping through the shadows. I was completely unaware of the horrors I would face later that night.

My body quivered at his touch. I felt whole again, walking with that boy, hand in hand.

Little did I know the war had already begun.

* * *

DSDW IS UP FOR FIC OF THE WEEK AT TLS! Please go vote! It's a fanfic dream to place top five ;) Thanks Evilnat! You know I lurve you!

Thanks Ali for not killing me yet!

I realize my chapters are shorter. I'm trying to get back into the swing of bi-weekly updates.

I've also failed on review replies. I've had a craptastic week. Just know I love each and every one of your reviews almost as I love each and every one of you.

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	22. Chapter 22: Brokenhearted

_Previously, in Chapter Twenty-One..._

_Hand in hand we left the park, slipping through the shadows. I was completely unaware of the horrors I would face later that night._

_My body quivered at his touch. I felt whole again, walking with that boy._

_Little did I know the war had already begun._

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Brokenhearted**

_These violent delights have violent ends_

_And in their triumph die, like fire and powder_

_Which, as they kiss, consume._

_~William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet~_

Edward and I snuck through the darkness, pressing ourselves between the rows of parked cars. I was surprised to find his Shelby Mustang tucked safely between the rows, but I shouldn't have been shocked. Edward was a risk taker, uncaring of his actions at times, savoring the thrill of getting caught somewhere he didn't belong with someone he shouldn't be with.

We were alike, yet so different from one another in so many ways. I was in a constant worry, and he was laid-back and relaxed. We slid into the car and shot out of town into the dark night.

As he drove, Edward told me the truth about the night we found Rose. He explained how it'd all been a hoax, a stunt to throw Liam off his game. Edward told me that Carlisle suspected Liam was in cahoots with James and Aro, which explained his reaction to Carlisle's news of James Cullen's involvement with my father's murder. They'd cut off all communication with us to protect us, he told me. At least until they were able to take care of James and Liam.

"Where is Liam? And James?" I questioned.

"Oh, they're tied up," he responded, shooting me a sideways grin, his teeth flashing beneath the moonlight spilling through his open window.

"Tied up as in busy?" I asked, knotting my brow in confusion.

"No...tied up as in the very literal sense," he laughed, the menacing sound creeping into the night air. "As in tied up in our basement as we speak. Carlisle's not showing an ounce of mercy on either one of them."

I said nothing in return, trying to comprehend the truth of his words, struggling to imagine the horrors of that basement...the things Carlisle Cullen was possibly doing to torture those men. I found no pity inside my heart. They were monsters, these men who'd conspired to kill my father. I swallowed dryly, turning to stare at him.

"Royce? Whatever happened to him?" I asked, watching as his face turned bitter.

"He hasn't paid for what he did to Rose...yet. Carlisle doesn't want the bodies piling up too soon. Looks suspicious," he replied.

There was a long silence until I asked him where he was taking me.

"Somewhere we can be alone," he muttered, gazing at me for a moment, his bitter expression replaced with tender longing. "Somewhere where I can hold you...touch you...show you how much I missed you."

"I know just the place," I whispered, feeling a smile tug at the corners of my mouth.

I showed him where to turn, the car twisting from old dirt road to old dirt road, eventually pulling into the backwoods and down an old logging trail abandoned long ago. Edward slowed the car down, carefully avoiding the deep ruts that tore through the ground.

"Stop anytime," I instructed him.

He came to a stop, cut the engine, and turned to look at me. There was a hunger in his eyes. I'd seen it many times, but not as fierce or as predatory.

I grasped the door handle and slid from the car, giving him a devilish grin as I sauntered around to the driver's side.

Edward stepped from the car, slamming the door behind him with a curious expression on his face as he gazed at me. The woods stood behind him black and silent. The sky was draped with darkness. White, glittering stars were woven throughout the endless Southern sky.

"I want you," he whispered, breaking the silence, sending thrills through my body.

"Then take me," I offered, cocking my head to the side with a smile.

Edward stalked forward, shoving me against the car. He tangled his fingers in my hair, kissing me with pleading desperation.

"Too long," he whispered, breaking our kiss long enough to stare into my eyes. "We've been apart for far too long."

"I'm tired of hiding," I told him, my voice sincere with the truth of my words. "I'm not hiding anymore. I don't care about the consequences."

"Are you sure?" he asked, his mouth turning into a lopsided smile, his eyes dancing happily.

"I'm sure," I whispered, smiling in return.

My words were honest. I'd rather have died than be apart from him again. Death would be a welcoming bliss from the emptiness I felt when we were apart. I was ready to face Aro and all the demons in hell if I had to.

Edward groaned, capturing my mouth again with his own. He pressed his hardness against my stomach as he licked and nipped at my bottom lip. My hand worked its way between us. I fumbled at his jeans, yanking them down harshly as he took a sharp, surprised breath.

"Take me right here, right now," I demanded, my voice strained with lust.

Edward's eyes widened a bit before that sexy smirk returned. He shrugged himself out of his boots and jeans. I pulled his shirt from his body, staring at his well-defined chest and abdomen. My fingers trailed across his muscles, inching their way to his nipples, flicking and tweaking them beneath my thumbs.

Edward groaned, tossing his head back slightly and closing his eyes. My fingers left his nipples, traveling much lower, dipping into his underwear.

"Fuck!" he hissed, thrusting against my hand as I stroked his hard length. "Sugar, I'm gonna fuck you so hard you'll feel it till next Sunday."

I'd never heard him say anything like that. My body started tingling, needy for his touch. I didn't have to ask. His eyes opened and flashed as he stared down at me with fierce determination.

"Take your shirt off," he instructed, raising an eyebrow as his eyes bored into mine, as though I'd ever refuse him.

I grinned, removed my hands from his underwear, and gently tugged my shirt over my head, tossing it on the top of his car. He stared at my bare chest in delicious wonder. He tugged at his underwear, stepping out of it, and taking his thick cock in his own hand, masterfully stroking it.

"Now your jeans," he demanded. "Slowly."

I took my time removing my boots, then jeans, shimmying them down my thighs and kicking them to the side. I was left in nothing but damp panties. I leaned against the hood of the car, raising one eyebrow at him.

"Want me to take these off too?" I asked, motioning to my underwear.

"Negative," he replied, his face dark and hungry as he calmly approached me. "That's my job."

I let out a startled giggle as he grasped my ass and dropped me on the hood of the car.

We were both breathing hard, hot, desperate for our bodies to connect. He pulled my panties from my body, tossing them to the side. He jerked my hips, and my back hit the hood of the car. I gasped as he ran his long fingers along my smooth wetness, snickering to himself.

"You really did miss me," he smirked.

I opened my mouth to retort, but it was too late. He slammed himself inside me, filling me completely. The force of his blow was so hard my back slid in painful wonder across the slick hood. I groaned in ecstasy as he pounded into me relentlessly. He worked his thumb between my legs, jarring my body over and over. Our soft, strained moans filled the night air, echoing through the thick forest.

"I told you I'd take you in the woods," he moaned between clenched teeth, suddenly pulling away.

I nearly wept at the loss of him buried deep inside. He pulled me from the hood, roughly spinning me around and pushing my chest down across the car's glossy surface.

"I've been thinking about taking you on top of my car from behind for a while now. Would you like that, Sugar? Can I take you from behind?" he asked, the words slipping devilishly sweet from his lips.

"Please!" I moaned.

Edward chuckled, kneading my cheeks between his fingers, spreading me open. His thumbs brushed across my entrance, teasing me with their presence. He hitched one of my legs up slightly and entered me with force.

It was primal, the way he took me in the woods, splayed out against his car, my body on fire. Tears streamed down my face as he reached around my waist, rubbing circles and pressing down where I needed him the most. He stretched and filled me over and over, sending waves of pleasure coursing through my body. His thighs slapped against my body, the sound dirty, intermingled with our breathy moans and a string of curse words that fell from his lips.

"You like that don't you, Baby?" he grunted, thrust, and rubbed, sending my body into a frenzy. "You like it from behind, you dirty girl."

I clenched around him, crying and spasming at his words, white-hot stars flashing behind my tightly closed eyelids. He moaned at the feeling of my wet body tightening around him, gripping my hips harder between his fingers, slamming into me in wild rapture as he came inside me.

Edward pulled me upright after his movements ceased, drawing my back against his sweaty heat, breathing soft kisses against my neck. A man true to his word, he'd taken me in the woods, just as he'd promised.

~oOoOoOoOo~

Jasper was home from college for the weekend, and apparently anxious to see my sister. Edward asked if we could swing by his house and pick him up, allowing him to ride with us back to my house. I fought an internal battle for a moment but eventually caved.

The image of my sister's thin, pained face, buried beneath her comforter earlier that morning flashed through my mind. She only needed to know Jasper still cared for her. Maybe it would be enough to pull her from the depression she'd slipped into.

Jasper was waiting for us on the front porch of their house. He lopped down the steps, giving me a careful grin as he slid into the backseat of the car.

My own smile was stiff, although it shouldn't have been. I couldn't blame him for leaving town, for pursuing his dreams that he held long before my sister sprang into his life.

"You think she'll be mad?" he asked as we turned on our old dirt road, anxiously running his fingers through his hair.

They were the first words spoken since picking him up at their house. I said nothing because I was unsure of my sister's reaction; unsure if she'd be happy, sad, or angry. Alice was a loose cannon. Her mood swings gave me whiplash.

Edward pulled in the drive and cut the engine. A strange sound filled the outside air...the song of old times, simpler times. A sense of foreboding hung around us, stifling and bitter. I knew immediately that something was amiss. The three of us exchanged quick looks and I saw they felt it too, a sharp knife stabbing into the serenity of the heated night.

I opened the door of the car with shaky hands, knowing in my heart something wasn't right. There was a stillness to the air, penetrated only by the mournful sounds of a heartbroken singer. The song reverberated over the lake, echoing through the thick forest surrounding the still, placid water. The trees were its stadium; Edward, Jasper, and I were its woeful audience. The sound was so haunting, so familiar, that I became frozen. One leg dangled from the car, the other remained tucked safely inside.

_Hear that lonesome whippoorwill_

_He sounds too blue to fly_

_The midnight train is whining low_

_I'm so lonesome I could cry_

"Oh, my God," I whispered, my voice trembling, pleading for the dreadful song to be silent, to leave and never return.

"What's wrong?" Edward asked, his tone demanding and peaked with curiosity.

"That was my father's song," I replied, my voice still frail and weak. "He played it all the time...before he passed away."

A haunting flash of a memory spun through my mind, twisting and turning, becoming something different from what I once remembered. It was the memory of my father sitting in his recliner, smoking a cigar and drinking long-aged whiskey as he listened to Hank on our old turntable. The record was scratchy from years of overuse, skipping and jumping with static scratching the edge of the singer's voice. I never recognized the sadness in my father's eyes back then, but the memory was now fresh and violent in my mind. The memory displayed the perfect portrait of a disheartened man, his brown eyes, the same eyes belonging to my sister, as he stared woefully into the glowing embers of our fireplace.

_I've never seen a night so long_

_When time goes crawling by_

_The moon just went behind the clouds_

_To hide its face and cry_

"Alice hates this song," I gasped, willing myself from the car, feeling the heaviness of Edward and Jasper's worried eyes on me the entire time.

I landed on quivering legs, creeping across the crumbling, heat-abused pavement. The two-story house made of rough lumber, cut by my father's own hands, loomed ahead. The soft yellow glow of a lamp filled the living room, spilling out onto the deck, making the windows glow like the devil's eyes against the dark veil of night. The outside speakers positioned on the deck continued to blare the soulful tune, sending shockwaves of dread coursing through my veins.

Pressing forward, I grasped the surprisingly cool doorknob in my hand, twisted it, and shoved the door open. The music belted intensely inside the house, throbbing against my ears, pounding inside my head.

I stumbled towards the stereo system, but a strange displacement of the floor beneath me caused me to pause. I moved my foot, bunching my brow in confusion, then felt my face drop in shock.

Hair. Long, silky, ebony hair lay on the floor below me. It trailed across the pale, worn carpet. My wide eyes followed the trail of hair, watching as the spindly black strands trailed along the floor, leading to the stairway.

It was my sister's hair; it was her pride and joy. It was beautiful and shiny, laying in luscious, choppy chunks scattered across the floor.

_Did you ever see a robin weep_

_When leaves began to die?_

_Like me he's lost the will to live_

_I'm so lonesome I could cry_

"Alice," Jasper choked out in a broken gasp, shoving past me and sprinting across the room.

I stumbled to the side as Jasper darted up the staircase. He disappeared upstairs, but it should have been me. It should have been me running to my sister's aid, but I was a statue, my feet cemented to the floor. My throat tightened as though an invisible force were strangling me. A heavy weight pressed against my chest, crushing me from the inside out. The rush of blood through my ears pounded through my brain, but it wasn't enough to smother my father's song.

_The silence of a falling star_

_Lights up a purple sky_

_And as I wonder where you are_

_I'm so lonesome I could cry_

The song ended and a horrific silence filled the air. It was the calmness I'd silently pleaded for, but the quiet was somehow more horrific than the echo of the song. It was suddenly broken by the sound of Jasper screaming through the dimly lit house. His voice was a sob, shattered and frantic, screaming Edward's name in desperation.

Suddenly I was free, shedding my invisible constraints, releasing my iron-weighted feet from the shackles of fear, and forcing myself into the here and now. I shot across the living room with Edward on my heels, somehow not tripping once as I dashed up the staircase.

I took a sharp left and then a right, gripping the doorframe of my sister's bedroom door between my fingers, but she wasn't there. The room was empty and familiar. The bed was unkempt. Hair products and massive amounts of makeup remained scattered across her white wicker vanity...the heart-shaped mirror mocking me by throwing my own frantic expression back in my face.

Grunting and gasping filled the air, drifting from the room at the end of the hall.

Not that room...not _her_ room. Alice_ never_ entered that room.

Edward heard it as well. He darted to the room, my mother's bedroom, shoving the partly opened door completely open. It slammed against the wall with such force that I felt the floor tremble beneath my feet.

My feet...they moved forward, my hands trailing along the rough lumber, splinters digging into my flesh as I rushed down the hallway, but I felt no pain.

I felt nothing but fear; cold, hard, fear, infiltrated my very core. I entered my mother's bedroom and my heart stopped, then seized, sputtering in my chest, shooting daggers of pain throughout my shattered soul.

Jasper was bent over a tiny wisp of a girl. She lay on my mother's floor, wearing nothing but a blood-red, silk camisole top and matching shorts. Her skin was pale and waxy, reminding me of a shiny little doll. Her lips were blushed a powder blue, the color of Nana's hydrangea blooms in the summer. Blood trailed from her left arm, from the crook of her delicate little elbow. Her hair was short, spiky, chopped off in a horrific fashion, and the color of midnight...the same color as her eyelashes, which feathered gently against her soft, angelic cheeks.

Syringes. Used syringes lay at her side. A pair of my mother's tan, sheer pantyhose was wrapped around her upper left arm. Edward was frantically trying to remove it. He failed at first, and then ripped them off, tearing and clawing at the fabric. A sickening ripping sound filled the air.

It wasn't my sister. The girl wasn't my sister because my sister is an angel, a beautiful, misunderstood child, only a year younger than me. She was my twin heart. Except this girl...her heart no longer beat.

"That's not my sister," I whispered.

Edward's head shot up as he stared at me momentarily from where he was perched near the tiny girl. He was bent over her thin frame, his long, lithe fingers pressed against the pulse point of her wrist.

Jasper ignored my words, for he was too busy pumping his clenched fists over the girl's chest. His upper body rose and fell with such force that I heard the distinct sound of cracking and crunching beneath his hands. My stomach lurched at the sound.

"You're breaking her ribs!" I screamed, darting forward and grasping his shoulders.

Jasper easily flung me off, then continued to pound against my sister's chest. I hit my mother's chest of drawers hard, a sharp stab of pain shooting through my back. I stumbled forward again as Jasper screamed at me to stay back.

"He knows what he's doing!" Edward shouted, his face struggling to remain calm.

"He's breaking her ribs! He's crushing her chest!" I cried, yanking my hair, standing helplessly as Jasper ceased his movements to pinch the girl's nose and force air into her mouth.

"That's part of it," Edward hastily explained, as Jasper checked the girl's pulse, his fingers pressing against her thin neck.

Jasper said nothing as he pulled his fingers from her pallid flesh, his face grim, yet determined.

"Let me take over. We can switch out," Edward demanded of Jasper, whose forehead with pebbled with sweat.

"No. It's gotta be me. I'm the one who's supposed to save her," Jasper grunted, resuming his position over her chest. "You call 911."

The pale girl's body flopped limply against the floor with each compression from Jasper's hands. Edward pulled his phone from his pocket, quickly calling for emergency assistance. The operator asked him questions, but his voice was muffled, drained from the air, smothered by my ragged breaths.

My legs became weak like a wet rag. I sank to my knees on my mother's bedroom floor, and I crawled to my sister's side...my sister. The girl was my sister.

"Sissy!" I sobbed, choking on my own words, my voice sounding strange, foreign to my ears. "Please wake up! Please, Sissy!"

The girl said nothing. She continued to rest in an uncaring slumber, undisturbed as she jerked and quivered beneath Jasper's hands.

"I'm sorry," I sobbed, clasping her tiny cold hand in my own. "I'm sorry I wasn't here. I'm supposed to protect you. Oh, my God...this is my fault! This is all my fault!"

Tears pricked my eyes before quickly spilling over. Jasper pressed his lips over my sister's mouth, his shaggy blond hair brushing against her face. In that moment, another memory struck me, this one as vivid as the one of my father. It was a memory of Alice and I.

_I was nine and already a cynic, believing nothing of fairy tales and folklore. My sister was in her Disney Princess phase. I'd watch her spin around the living room in her blue, red, and yellow faux silk dress, singing cheerfully along to the music flowing from the television. The garment was a dress meant to replicate that of Snow White, who my sister openly believed was her own true identity._

_"Some day my prince will come!" she sang in my memory, spinning in circles, her long, ebony hair braided with colorful bursts of ribbons woven throughout the strands. "Some day we'll meet again, and away to his castle we'll go, to be happy forever I know!"_

_Alice's favorite scene was the kissing scene, when the gallant prince would arrive on his trusty steed to awaken Snow White from her eternal rest with one rousing kiss._

_"That's me, Sissy!" she beamed, showing off a partially toothless grin as she'd recently lost one of her front teeth._

_She pointed at the screen of the television where Snow White lay in her coffin. The handsome blonde prince arrived, pressing his lips against hers, inevitably waking her from her slumber._

_"You're not Snow White, Alice," I huffed, rolling my eyes as I struggled to find the correct piece of a puzzle I was working on nearby._

_"Yes, I am," she whispered, her face suddenly void of emotion as she shuffled to the screen, pressing her fingers against the glowing glass. "I'm Snow White...and someday my prince will come, breathing life into me."_

The childhood memory brought more tears spilling over my cheeks. She was so innocent, believing herself a princess, dancing around our living room with her dainty giggles filling the air.

"Some day when spring is here," I whispered, my voice cracking as I choked out the words, finishing the song little Alice sang in my mind. "We'll find our love anew, and the birds will sing, and wedding bells will ring, some day when my dreams come true."

Alice's song ended in a frail murmur and was replaced with the wail of a siren. I glanced up at the window facing the drive anxiously. The warm glow of the room was replaced with the rhythmic flashing of red lights.

"They're here. Thank you," Edward muttered, ending the call with the 911 operator.

Edward shoved the phone back in his pocket, begging Jasper to let him assist with the CPR, but Jasper refused. I knew he was weary, but he covered it well as he never let up working frantically on saving my sister.

I pressed myself in the corner of the bedroom, hitting the wall and slumping to the floor. I drew my knees to my chest, feeling weak and helpless in that moment, more so than I'd felt my entire life.

The paramedics arrived, dragging a stretcher behind them. One of them gently tugged Jasper away from Alice, quickly replacing him as he stood pale and helpless nearby. The paramedics spouted off questions, removing objects from their smart black bags, machines and instruments that I couldn't identify nor cared to see. Edward and Jasper struggled to answer their questions. Edward's pleading face drew me from my solemn shell.

"She's seventeen," I whispered. "She's allergic to Iodine. She's not on any medication, but she does take Adderall sometimes...and she smokes weed. A doctor once told my mother that Alice was bipolar, but my mother refused to believe it. Those needles...they're not hers. She's not on the needle. She'd never do anything like that! She has no other medical conditions. She had surgery once. When she was five she broke her right arm after watching Mary Poppins. She climbed on top of the tool shed, opened an umbrella, and jumped. Alice is always doing silly things like that...all she's ever wanted to do is fly."

"That's enough information, ma'am," one of the paramedics told me in a patient, caring voice.

The paramedic briefly glanced at me with pity in his pale green eyes. I turned my head, breaking my gaze. I wanted none of his pity and none of the scene before me. I would not watch them intubate my sister. I would not.

Edward abandoned Jasper, who stood nearby frantically running his fingers through his hair, his face ashen. Edward approached me, stooping down and murmuring comforting words in my ear. He lifted me to my feet, pulling me into his arms. He stroked my hair as I buried my face in the crook of his neck and silently sobbed.

They placed my sister's limp body on a stretcher. I looked at her one last time before they took her away. Her small face was still peaceful. Some sort of device protruded from her mouth. The paramedics continued CPR all the way down the bumpy staircase. Their mumbled words of 'suicide attempt' and 'heroin overdose' filtered through the stiff, hot air. They carried her outside, two of them climbing in the back with her forlorn frame while the other slammed the doors behind them.

I could still see her tiny face glowing beneath the lights in the back of the ambulance as it pulled away, disappearing into the night.

That was the night my sister's heart stopped not once, but twice. She died twice that night.

Edward held me in his warm embrace, tears trailing down my cheeks. My eyes wandered to the sky, catching a glimpse of a falling star. I thought about my father, wondering if he was out there somewhere, waiting for my sister with open arms.

* * *

Stop. Take a deep breath. Trust me.

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	23. Chapter 23: Just a Twitch

_Previously, in Chapter Twenty-Two..._

_That was the night my sister's heart stopped not once, but twice. She died twice that night._

_Edward held me in his warm embrace, tears trailing down my cheeks. My eyes wandered to the sky, catching a glimpse of a falling star. I thought about my father, wondering if he was out there somewhere, waiting for my sister with open arms._

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Three: Just a Twitch**

_When he shall die,  
Take him and cut him out in little stars,  
And he will make the face of heaven so fine  
That all the world will be in love with night,  
And pay no worship to the garish sun.  
~William Shakespeare~ _

**APOV**

"Alice, get out of bed! It's time for school!" Bella groaned, yanking at the comforter swaddled around me. "The truancy officer will call Renee if you don't start showing up to school! What am I supposed to tell her when she calls and demands to know why you've been skipping?"

"Tell her to eat shit and die," I muttered, pulling the comforter over my head, hiding from her and the world.

There was a heavy, prolonged silence. The only sound was the ringing in my own ears, a high-pitched irritating squeal that I'd heard my entire life. An aggravated sigh broke the quiet as my sister spoke her last departing words.

"Alice, you're not the only one who's been hurt, ya know?" she muttered softly. "I'm just as confused, hurt, and angry as you are, but I have faith. I have faith that things will work out. You really need to get over yourself."

Those were the last words I heard my sister speak as she left the room. I was a selfish, pathetic little thing. I couldn't even bring myself to look at her one last time.

Bella believed I was depressed because of Jasper, because he was gone without even a simple parting farewell. The truth was, my dismal state had nothing to do with Jasper's departure; I had seen him leave me a million times in my dreams. It was something I was well prepared for.

I was terrified because our fates were hanging in the balance, and the world was tilting on its axis. I'd grown horrified of the things I'd seen in my mind, something that'd never happened before. The visions were something I'd learned to live with, something I'd learned to accept...until I saw my own fate flash before my eyes.

I'd been hiding in my room for days, avoiding my sister, avoiding the world. The inevitable towered over me, thick and heady. The churning of my heart and the squeal in my ears were the only things that kept me company during my lonely day and those endless nights.

I crawled out of bed sometime around dawn. I sat on the floor, removing a wooden box from beneath the bed. The box was elegant and ornate, carved by the hands of some faceless, nameless person. It was a birthday gift from Kate two years prior. She'd found it in an old, smoky shop on the outskirts of New Orleans, in the very same shop that sold Voodoo dolls and Magnolia incense.

After digging around in the box I rolled a blunt. I smoked it where I sat, dumping the ashes straight onto the floor, cold and uncaring. When I finished the blunt I wet my index finger and thumb with my tongue, squeezing the cherry between my wet fingers. It went out with a hiss and sizzle. I tossed it carelessly into the box, saving it for another day.

I chuckled at the thought...saving it for another day. There would be another day. My time hadn't come. I still had a full life to live, a life with Jasper, the one person aside from my sister who accepted me for who I was.

Overcome with exhaustion, I climbed into the bed, pulling the comforter over my head once more. The weed mellowed me out, smoothing out the invisible wrinkles of worry in my mind. My eyes grew heavy, weighted down. I was almost there, caught in the midst of sleep and awareness, when darkness poured into my soul. With it came the vision.

I shot up in bed, my eyes growing hazy as I stared blankly at the wall. The vision played out. My destiny was set. There was no deviation from the inevitable. If I was to veer from the path already chosen for me, the future, my future, would be set in a different direction to the unknown.

If I took that chance, that one opportunity to change the events from other than what I saw, I could die. The thought of leaving my sister with grief and guilt weighing her down was sickening. I'd been selfish enough, allowing her to carry the load of the world on her shoulders, constantly worrying about me, the bills, our mother, and her situation with Edward. I couldn't leave her with the memory of her dead sister haunting her every day for the entirety of her life.

So I followed the vision, pulling myself from the bed in a foggy haze. I took deep breaths, in through my nose, out between pursed lips, fighting to gain control of the rapid pace of my heart. He'd be here soon. I had little time.

I padded downstairs, turning the lights down low just as I'd seen in my head. Night had approached since I'd smoked the blunt and wallowed in my own self-pity. I glanced through the sliding glass doors past the deck, my eyes searching through the vast darkness. There was no moon out that night; only a soulless black sky peppered with glittering stars.

I stumbled over to Daddy's turntable, quickly searching through the records for the tune I heard in my head. I hated that song. It reminded me of my father's sadness and heartache, something my sister failed to see while he was still alive. Bella always thought our parents were happy, but I knew they were anything but.

There were the subtle hints, the angry stares, and the sound of sad country music pouring from the old turntable while my mother was away at work. I suspected my mother wasn't actually working overtime during those days. She was spending her time with James Cullen.

I finally found the album. The cover was faded and worn, the edges of the once pristine album tattered and softened by oppression and hard times. I opened the wooden cover of the record player, slid the album from the sleeve, and gently placed it on the turntable. The song began, cutting through the silence of the house like a hot knife through butter.

There was an old stale pack of cigarettes hidden in the junk drawer in the kitchen. I removed a single cigarette and a small box of matches. The rush of blood through my brain picked up speed as I sat on the porch steps and lit the cigarette. Blowing smoke in the air, I tilted my head back practicing my smoke rings, perfecting the art of concealing my true feelings.

He never made a sound as he crept down the drive. I imagined myself as a dog in another life, or some other sort of animal hyper-aware of danger, of death, of sickness and disease. I mused over this as he approached me slowly, cautiously, like the time Bella and I watched our childhood cat, Smoky, devour a field mouse. Smoky stalked it, played with it for a while, tormenting it with her sharp claws before eating it. Nothing but the mouse's tail remained after she finished her meal and cleaned her paws with her rough tongue.

My eyes remained on the sky as he stopped walking, standing only a handful of feet away. I struggled to remember the constellations that hung in the sky, but my mind drew a blank. My memories of my father's teachings about the myths of the Gods were fuzzy at best.

I wished Bella was there in that moment, pointing out the different astrological wonders she loved so very much. But Bella was gone, spending her time with Edward. They were together. I was certain. My visions never lied. Sometimes they were confusing and hazy, but they never lied.

"So you're the man who's come to kill me," I mused, my eyes breaking from the Lord's patchwork quilt in the sky, landing on the bastard shaking in front of me. "In my dreams I saw you coming, but I never saw your face. You're the last person I'd expected to see here tonight."

He stared at me for a long moment, his words lodged in his throat. I'd caught him off guard, confusing him by anticipating his arrival, showing no surprise. He looked a little worse for wear, far worse than the last time I'd seen him. Pure hate washed over me, but I kept a neutral, bored expression on my face. I didn't hate him for the death he'd inevitably inflict on me. I hated him for keeping me from Jasper the few days before he left for college, the few days that remained before I died.

"You...you're not surprised to see me?" he questioned, his face trembling and twitching.

"No," I reply with a fake, toothy grin. "I saw you coming. You brought fun times with you, right? What's my poison? Meth? Heroin? Coke? Hurry and tell me. I'm an impatient girl."

He studied me, his pale blue eyes flitting across my face. There was a steady shake to his hands. Moisture beaded across his forehead, a result of the mixture of the drugs he'd become addicted to and nervousness of the act he'd been hired to perform flowing through his veins. I was to be his first kill, but I certainly wouldn't be his last.

"You saw me coming..." he whispered, running his fingers through his greasy hair.

"Of course I saw you coming," I snorted, shaking my head, and giggling in mirth. The sound rang across the muggy air, childlike and full of folly. "You see the visions too, don't you, Royce? You see things? Things that aren't really there? You see...the shadow people?"

"How do you know that?" he asked, his face white as cotton. "How do you know about the things I see?"

"We're not so different, you and I," I smirked, standing and slowly descending the steps, my feet treading lightly against the pavement between us. "You see things...the stars falling from the sky, swooping past your face, bursting against the surface of the earth, shattering like jagged pieces of glass."

I flailed my hands wildly around his face, throwing my head back with a large guffaw when he cringed at the motion. His eyes were wide, darting around frantically, the meth fucking with his mind as he watched molten lava pour from the sky. His hands anxiously reached in the pockets of his hoodie.

"It's August and way too hot for a hoodie," I snickered. "Whatcha got in those pockets, Royce? Party favors?"

I reached out, grabbing the front of the hoodie, and patting my hands against it. He sprang backwards, but it was too late. I'd felt the bulky weight of his instruments of torture hidden within.

"Let's get the party started," I chuckled, grabbing the stings of his hoodie and yanking him forward.

Royce stumbled across the cracked pavement of my driveway, confused by my behavior, caught of guard by my hospitality, and terrified of the colors spinning around us.

"I don't want to hurt you, Alice," he whispered, following me inside the house. "I'm not a bad guy, I swear. He's making me do it."

"Who's making you do it?" I questioned, the final piece of the puzzle finally snapping in place.

"Aro," he confessed, digging hesitantly in his pockets. "He's making me kill you. Billy Black found evidence Jake stashed away. There's pictures of you, Bella, Kate...all of you with the Cullens. I don't want to do this, Alice. I'm not a monster!"

"Yes, you are," I replied, sitting on the couch and jutting my arm forward. "You are a bad guy. You beat your girlfriend, blamed it on my cousin, and now you're here to kill me. How are you not a monster?"

"How...how do you know I blamed it on Emmett? Did the Cullens..."

"I told you, Royce," I huffed impatiently, shaking my arm, encouraging him to begin. "I see things. Now shoot me up and get it over with."

Ten minutes. That's the amount of time it took for the earth to explode after that first injection. The world burst into colors; black, white, red, yellow, blue, all exploding around me. The colors swirled in spiraling flames, nipping at my flesh, tugging at my hair. My hair was glossy, ebony snakes, slithering around my face, hissing and snapping, licking at my skin with their forked tongues.

I screamed at the snakes, clawing at my scalp, tangling them between my fingers so viciously. I threw the snakes to the floor. They followed me everywhere: through the living room, over the couch, hissing and spitting. I grabbed a pair of rusty kitchen scissors from the junk drawer and chopping the snakes in half, flinging them from my head.

"You have to take more," Royce whispered, staring at me, his face only inches away from mine as I frantically hacked away.

Hot tears slid down my cheeks and I prayed. I prayed that the snakes would disappear, that I'd make it through the night, that my prince would find me and bring me back to life. I darted up the stairs, Royce on my heels. Bursting into that room, that room I so desperately hated, I fell to the floor. My body trembled but it felt so good: the shakes, the warm carpet beneath my face. It tickled me, like thousands of tiny angels touching me, soothing me.

Pure euphoria.

I felt something wrap tightly around my upper arm. I rolled over, gazing up at Royce, but I was distracted by the shadow people. They melted from the walls, surrounding him, leaning forward as his shaky fingers struggled to find another vein.

"Are you here to take me to Neverland?" I questioned them, my body feeling light as air, as though I could float through my mother's bedroom window and escape to another dimension.

The shadow people didn't respond. They hovered over Royce as he slowly injected the drug into my system. His eyes darted around nervously. His hands shook so violently that the syringe fell from his slick fingers.

"You see them too?" I asked, my eyes suddenly droopy. "They're here for you, not me. They'll follow you your whole life, torturing you. They'll never leave. You'll never escape."

Royce screamed, abandoning the syringe where it lay on the floor, only halfway injected. He began grabbing his clothes, yanking and tugging as the demons danced their evil dance around him. Their features were morphed into nothing but gray and black shapes of men, tall and lithe, faeries of the Neverworld

"How do I make them stop?!" he hollered, punching and kicking them as they laughed, shrill and maniacal.

"Jump in the lake," I whispered, the pull of the angel's hands dragging me through the floor. "It's the only way you'll survive."

"I can't swim!" he cried, big fat tears pouring down his face.

My eyes closed. My breathing began to cease. The last sound I heard was Royce's boots thumping down the stairs.

"I know you can't swim," I giggled, my voice barely audible even to me. "That's the point."

Then I was gone. Floating in between here and there, resting in a casket made of glass, waiting on my fairy tale kiss, but it wasn't Neverland I floated to. Instead, I drifted back through time, to a memory.

~o0o0o0o0o~

The sun glinted like broken glass on the surface of the lake, casting dozens of glowing reflections across his face. I stared at him. My stomach was in knots not only because he was sitting beside me and very real, but because of Jacob Black pulling a gun on Kate earlier, on top of the small sack of weed I'd swallowed. It was a vain attempt to save Bella, Kate, and I from an unnecessary possession charge.

Misdemeanor, but still.

The pontoon drifted lazily through the water. Fish jumped nearby, thrusting themselves from the warmth of the lake into the air before falling back in an arching decline. The smell of coconut sunscreen and pure boy teased me, drawing my attention to the person sitting quietly to my right. I knew him like the back of my hand, had seen him every day of my entire life, had touched him, tasted him in my dreams, but had only met him twice before.

I wanted to hate that boy, and I thought I was putting on a pretty good show of doing so...at least for everyone but him. The endless depths of his blue eyes pierced straight into me, coring me like an apple, peeling away the thin skin of my bruised surface, bringing forth the part of me that I frequently failed to hide.

"Stop staring at me," I grumbled, shoving my fingers beneath my sunglasses, frantically rubbing the soreness from my eyes. "Go away."

"No," he replied, dazzling me with a toothy grin.

He brushed the shaggy strands of wavy locks from his tan forehead, giving me a crooked grin that made me melt inside. I covered my face with a scowl, rolled my eyes, and propped the sunglasses on top of my head.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" I groaned. "Isn't it pretty obvious I'm not that into you?"

"I'm nice to you because I want to know you," he offered, the smile fading a bit as he conveyed the seriousness of his suggestion with his trusting eyes. "I want to know everything about you. Tell me things...things you've never told anyone else."

His request hung in the air, and I wondered if he felt the weight of it. I searched his face for some hint of recognition, but there was none there.

"Fine. If it will get rid of you quicker, I'm up for it," I muttered, knowing that our conversation would determine so much about the future.

"The first night we met, you told me you'd dreamed of me. Did you really dream about me like you claim you did?" he asked, the smile completely vanishing as a contemplative frown tugged at his mouth. "Be honest with me."

"You know the answer to the question, so why ask it?" I replied in a grouchy tone.

Jasper stared at me for the longest time, our eyes locked upon one another's. He broke our gaze, glancing down, then tugging at the strings of his board shorts. I had to force my eyes not to drift downward. He was positively delicious in every sense of the word, from his toned abdomen to his honey skin. He was just as I'd imagined a million times, but a million times worse, only because of who he was.

That was one thing I hadn't seen coming.

"I dreamed of you too," he quietly admitted, his eyes leaving the strings that he so nervously twisted between his fingers. His gaze latched to mine once more.

"I know," I stated simply, because it was the truth. I knew he'd dreamed of me.

"Why? How?" he whispered, confused and worried.

"Because we've met before, a very long time ago," I patiently explained.

Jasper said nothing in response, choosing only to stare at me, studying me. The pontoon languidly approached a small waterfall, the stream of water pouring into the lake at a great height. My heart spun in my chest, fluttering and flaunting around as my eyes landed on a lithe little creature, dancing along the edge of the limestone cliff.

"Are you sure you want to know me better...know things that no one else does?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Absolutely," he responded.

"Then take my hands," I instructed, meeting his confused eyes. "Take my hands and trust me."

"Okay," he hedged hesitantly, reaching out and taking my small, cold hands in his large, warm ones.

"Look at the cliff," I whispered, chills shooting through my veins as though I was experiencing that moment for the very first time. "Don't just look at it. I need you to see it."

Jasper glanced up, his eyes fluttering back and forth against the rocky edge of the cliff. To the naked eye it stood solemn and abandoned, aside from the blood-red graffiti painted in the lower rocky jetties.

"There's a girl on the edge of the cliff," I told him, my eyes darting back and forth as she flashed in and out of my vision. "She's younger than you or I...around fifteen or so. Her skin is tan, kissed by the sun, and her hair is the color of spun silk. She's teetering on the edge of the cliff. Can you see her?"

"No," he whispered, his skin paling beneath his tan, causing me to believe that maybe he did, in fact, see the girl. Either that or I was freaking him out, which was an absolute possibility.

"It's like watching a film...it plays over and over," I explained. "Her image darts in and out of the atmosphere, like the ghost that she's become. She's drunk, not only from the alcohol an older boy has given her, but also off him. Drunk off the possibilities of new love, of summertime, of something different from the monotony her life has become. Do you see her?"

"No."

"Her birthday is in a few days. Her mother is baking her a cake...an amalgamation cake. Her mother is fussing over the ingredients, the time she has to put into baking it with her busy schedule, but she knows her daughter will appreciate the cake. It was her grandmother's recipe...worn pages handed down from the wrinkled hands of women in her family for generations. The batter would be full of pecans, coconut, and raisins, but no walnuts, because the girl detested walnuts. Do you see her?"

"No," he croaked, his eyes widening as he honed in on something fluttering near the cliff edge.

"Her mother never got a chance to bake that cake," I continue quietly, my eyes drifting to where the poor girl teetered. "The girl's close to the edge, dizzy from beer, boy, and the Mississippi heat. The boy, he doesn't even know her name. He's after her for a piece of ass, nothing more, nothing less. He's twenty and already hardened by the toils of life. She's fifteen and lonely, bored out of her mind. She's dancing on the edge, trying to impress him, pretending to be something she's not. You should never pretend to be something you're not, you know?"

"And now she's falling," I whispered, following the direction of his wide eyes, watching as the girl stumbled. "She doesn't fall of her own free will. He pushes her, misjudges the height of the cliff, the depth of the water, thinking he's being funny, that she'll grow angry before kissing him in reckless abandon. Everyone knows not to jump from the top of the cliff, to only jump from the lower rocks. She's falling, screaming, flailing her arms and legs as she hits the water. The girl never emerges. Do you see that name painted on the rough edges of the limestone?"

"Yes," he whispered, his lips forming the word 'Heidi' as he read the graffiti.

I grasped his face between my hands, staring boldly into his eyes.

"Look down into the water, just below my feet. Do you see her?" I whispered.

Jasper swallowed dryly, slowly peering over the edge of the pontoon where my feet childishly piddled near the water's surface. A girl floated below the murky water, her blonde hair drifting around her pallid face in the churning current, her placid eyes staring solemnly back at us. She was naked as the day she was born, her arms spread wide in a welcoming embrace as she silently tread just below the surface, a muted mermaid who never got a chance to tell her side of the story.

"Shit!" he muttered, drawing his legs up over the side of the boat, scooting backwards slightly.

Then she vanished, descending back to her watery grave, leaving us with one lingering gaze as she drifted away.

"We have a lot in common, you and I," I told him, the sound of his racing heart audible to my own ears, as his pounded in succession with mine.

Reaching out, I gently traced the lines of scars running up the underside of his arms. The scars were beautiful, thin, and puckered, drifting up his flesh like a roadmap of his past and of his demons.

"We're all different, deformed in some way or another. A beautiful mess. We all have scars," I mused, dropping my finger from his raised flesh, my eyes meeting his. "Some of us carry our scars on the outside, some of us have them hidden deep within. You have both."

"How...how did you do that?" he gasped, his eyes darting behind us to our relatives who laughed nearby, completely unaware of what just transpired. "How did you see that? How did you make me see that?"

"You've always been able to see," I told him. "You just chose to never really look."

"So my dream wasn't just a dream..." he began.

"I was working in a diner!" I giggled, releasing a whimsical sigh at I gazed into the sinking sunset. "You walked in for a slice of apple pie and left with your arm linked through mine."

"How did you know that?" he mumbled in astonishment.

"Silly boy, I've already told you. We've met before! It was another time, in another life, but we most definitely met."

"I don't understand this," he muttered after a lengthy pause.

"It's not meant for us to understand. It's destiny," I explained. "Fate wants us to be together for some ungodly reason that I don't quite understand."

"I don't believe in destiny," he replied, avoiding my eyes as he stared into the murky water.

I watched his face and the play of emotions that he so desperately fought against as he lied to himself and lied to me. He did believe the things I said, as hard of a concept as it was, but everything within him, everything he'd been taught by his family, by society, told him to distrust the unknown.

"If you don't believe what I just said, what you just saw with your own eyes, you most certainly won't believe the rest of our story," I grumbled, a mixture of relief and disappointment flooding my soul.

"What...what were you going to tell me?" he asked hesitantly.

I stared at him for a long moment, memorizing the insecurity, the vulnerability swimming in those azure blue eyes.

"I'm going to die," I told him, releasing a breath I felt like I'd held for months. "You can't tell anyone. It's not your secret to share. I don't know the specifics. It's only coming in bits and pieces...but the most important part of what I see is you. You're the only one who can save me. You've always been the only one who can save me."

"How will I know how to save you?" he asked nervously.

"You'll know how," I told him in a sure tone. "You learned how...after your parents passed away in that horrible wreck. It's not your fault, you know? They don't blame you for what happened. It was an accident. You were a kid. You saved your sister, but you couldn't save them. You weren't supposed to."

He held his breath for what seemed like hours. Shock and sorrow was etched on his face by my words. The boat slowly drifted back to shore. We sat with our feet crossed beneath us, staring into one another's eyes.

The conflict, the denial eventually ebbed away from his face. Jasper took my small hands, my skin milky white against his tan ones. He leaned forward slowly, closing his eyes in unison with mine as he quietly mumbled his agreement to save me. He sealed the deal with a breath of a kiss against my ready lips.

~o0o0o0o0o~

"She's dead, Renee," a rough voice spoke, sounding nothing like the smooth tone of Jasper's voice in my memories.

"Don't say that, Aro," I heard my mother cry. "Oh, God! My baby!"

The sound of sniffling and sobbing filled the room. I could see my mother and Aro. They stood quietly in the corner of a room, wrapped in each other's arms.

Aro soothingly stroked my mother's hair, comforting his brother's widow. She sobbed into his shirt, pressing a tissue to her eyes.

A tiny girl lay hooked to a mess of machines just inches away from them. Her skin was pallid and gray. Dark circles were dusted around her lightly closed eyes. Tubing protruded throughout her body: through her nose, mouth, arms, chest. The steady beeps and swooshing of machines intertwined with one another in a solemn symphony. The longer I stared at the girl, the closer I came to realizing that the tiny girl was me.

"Just let them take her off the ventilator, Renee," Aro whispered, his eyes darting to the door, searching for something or someone.

"What if she doesn't breathe?" Renee sniffed.

"Then you'll let her go," he told her in a sorrowful voice. "You need to think about her quality of life, Renee. You can't keep her on a machine forever. It's inhumane!"

"I should talk to Bella about this..." my mother mumbled uncertainly.

"Bella will keep her alive," Aro said cooly. "She'll let her lay there like a vegetable for the rest of her life. How is that really living, Renee? What if she's in pain? Do you want poor little Alice to suffer?"

"No!" my mother bawled.

There was a long, bloated silence.

"You do have insurance money, right? Life insurance...burial insurance?" Aro asked.

My mother sniffed a few times, drying her face with a tattered tissue.

"Yes," she mused, an unfamiliar look flashing in her eyes. "Lots of it too."

More silence ensued. They were going to let me die. They would take me off the ventilator, and if I couldn't breathe on my own they'd let me die.

Panic filled my body, sending me into a frenzy. It wasn't part of the plan. I'd already died once. I wasn't supposed to die again. I fought to wake up, to tell them I was really there, still alive, suspended just above their heads. I yelled, but there was no sound. My eyes darted around, searching for my sister...my Sissy...but she was nowhere to be found.

Then I saw her. She entered the room with a small cup of coffee in her hands. Her heart-shaped face was streaked with tears, her hair hanging in a clumpy mess. Bella slid past my uncle and mother without a second glance, although they spoke to her. She grasped my hand and I felt it. I felt her warmth against my coolness. I could smell her favorite perfume, just a trace of it lingering around her. I screamed her name, but she said nothing. She just stood there gazing down at me, crying and heartbroken. I fought. I fought and fought. _Just a twitch_, I told myself.

Then it happened.

The tiny girl laying below me moved her finger. It was a tiny movement, just a flicker, but it was enough. Everything around me slowly began to fade, the colors melting into one another. It was just a twitch...just one tiny twitch. Would it be enough?

The last thing I heard was my sister's frantic voice ringing through the air.

* * *

AliCat0623 was skeptical of an APOV at first, but I think I won her over in the end. Thanks chicka!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, to all who voted for DSDW at TLS. It made the top five! If not for y'all this story would only exist in my mind. Thank you all for your support, for reading, and for encouraging me to continue. We're not very far from the end now.

Question: This is something Ali has asked me, and I'd like your thoughts as well. Do you believe Alice is truly psychic? Or do you think the 'visions' are part of her mental illness?

I'd love to hear your thoughts :)

Peace and love,

Jhood


	24. Chapter 24: The Gloves Come Off

_Previously, in Chapter Twenty-Three..._

_The tiny girl laying below me moved her finger. It was a tiny movement, just a flicker, but it was enough. Everything around me slowly began to fade, the colors melting into one another. It was just a twitch...just one tiny twitch. Would it be enough?_

_The last thing I heard was my sister's frantic voice ringing through the air._

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Four: The Gloves Come Off**

_First they ignore you, _

_then they ridicule you,_

_then they fight you,_

_and then you win._

_~Gandhi~_

My secrets, my carefully guarded secrets, no longer existed.

Edward and I arrived at the emergency room within minutes of Alice's overdose. He held my hands as we waited for word, any word, of her condition. My body trembled in his arms, my face crumbled with tears, and all the while he sat diligently by my side, smoothing my hair, whispering comforting words in my ear.

Jasper was a mess, pacing around the ER, cursing below his breath, blaming himself for leaving for college and not listening to Alice. It didn't take long for me to understand that he knew, Jasper freaking _knew_, that Alice would die. She'd told him, more or less, in the short span of time she spent with him.

I wanted to hate him for not warning me, for not telling me about the things she saw, but my bitter words never came. Instead the two halves of my brain argued with one another. One half argued that Alice was insane, and she'd done this to herself. She'd made Jasper believe the things she saw as she'd done to us a countless number of times. The other half of my brain argued that Alice was rarely wrong concerning the things she saw, and if her overdose was something she'd planned all along, it was a well-delivered, precise plan that I doubted my sister had much patience for.

Word gets around fast in small towns, and it was only a matter of minutes before the Swan clan arrived at the Birchwood Medical Center's emergency room. Aro came in first, his forehead drooped with concern, his dark eyes downcast, that is, until he saw me tucked sweetly into Edward's side sitting in the waiting room.

"Isabella Swan! What in the hell do you think you're doing?" Aro spat, towering over us.

Edward stood, proud and tall, much taller than my uncle, who suddenly eased back a step or two. It would have been comical if not for the situation at hand.

"Don't you dare raise your voice to her," Edward told my uncle, patiently, quietly, with fire burning in his eyes. "Don't you ever talk to her like that again."

"Isabella, what's the meaning of this?" Aro demanded, his dark eyes flashing as he effectively ignored my infuriated boyfriend's words. "Why are you here with this boy? With this...Cullen?"

"Like you don't know!" I spat, drawing my knees to my chest and wrapping my arms around my legs, hugging them tightly against my body. "Just who exactly are you putting on an act for, Aro? Your brothers? The staff and patients listening in? Because you and I both know you've known about Edward's and my relationship for a while now."

I gestured around the room as I spoke, pointing at our various family members who filed into the emergency room, their faces lined with worry and solemnity. Aro took deep breaths, his hands clenched in hard knots at his sides, his face slowly turning red. If he was trying to reign in his anger, he was doing a piss-poor job of it.

I spotted Kate in my periphery, still wearing her cheerleading uniform. The sparkling makeup she'd worn earlier in the night shone dimly beneath the fluorescent lights that hung overhead. Her hair bow was loose and hung limply from her ponytail.

"I've been seeing Edward for months now," I announced loudly, my heart trembling in my chest as I untucked my legs and slowly stood from the chair. "What are you going to do about it? Shoot me? Hey, everyone! I'm dating Edward Cullen! If you find me dead, you'll know who to blame!"

I screamed those words at the top of my lungs, pointing to Aro the entire time. Everyone in the ER stared at us: the doctors, nurses, patients, and my family.

Edward found my free hand, grasping it firmly in his. I'd reached my boiling point, my temper finally flaring, spitting and bursting through the carefully sewn seams of my not-so-secret life, exposing Edward and I for what we were; the children of enemies who were very much in love with one another, and had been even longer than either one of us truly realized.

"Bella! You're making a fool out of yourself!" Aunt Maggie hissed, grabbing my hand and bringing it down from where I pointed a trembling finger at Aro. Her eyes darted around the room nervously at the pointed stares I'd garnered. "We understand, Sweetie. This boy drew you into this, didn't he? We're not mad, Bella. We know how deceptive those Cullens can be."

"Oh, put a sock in it, Mother," Kate spoke up, sending my heart sputtering in my chest once more.

Kate shoved through the crowd of relatives gathered at our sides, pulling herself up next to me as she narrowed her eyes at the roughies.

"I'm in love with Garrett Cullen!" she announced proudly, her blue eyes shining as she smirked at our gasping family. "Put that in your pipe and smoke it!"

Steam practically poured out of Aro's ears, my Aunt Maggie grew faint and had to sit down, and Nana, who'd just arrived to hear the tail-end of our announcement, gave me and Kate a proud, solemn nod.

~o0o0o0o0o~

"Bella, I need to speak to your mother about Alice's condition," Doctor Vines told me softly, his pale blue eyes glistening with seriousness. "Alice is a minor child. Your mother is her responsible party..."

"My mother hasn't been home for months, Doctor Vines," I sighed. "She's been living in Birmingham spending Alice's Social Security benefits. I've taken care of Alice longer than my mother ever has. Tell me what I need to know about my sister, please."

The doctor, possibly remembering my mother from the years she worked at the very hospital we stood in, looked shocked and slightly disgruntled by my blunt admission. Nevertheless, he trudged forward, giving me the information I so desperately needed.

"The next twenty-four hours will be touch and go," Doctor Vines explained after a moment of silence. "We'll try to wean and extubate her within the next couple of days. Things are looking promising, folks. We were able to treat her with Naloxone right away. She has a few broken ribs, but luckily none of them punctured her lungs. Whoever initially provided CPR undoubtedly saved her life."

Somehow I found my way into Jasper Hale's arms. His embrace was warm and comforting. He smelled of hickory and cedar, a soothing, familiar combination. I cried into his shirt, but he didn't complain. Instead he gently stroked my hair, whispering soothing words the same way his pseudo brother had during my moments of distress. And I thanked him. God how I thanked him for saving my sister.

Things changed during those next two days; life altering things. The first life-altering event was the presence of Carlisle and Esme Cullen, who'd taken it upon themselves to pay my sister's medical expenses.

It was by chance that I found out about their hospitality. I overheard two nurses gossiping near the vending machines on the outskirts of the intensive care waiting room. I wasn't shocked to hear people talking about our families. It was the greatest scandal to hit our small hometowns in quite some time, but to find out the Cullens were taking the burden of medical expenses from my shoulders...that was completely overwhelming.

I made my presence known to the nurses when I stole a sip of water from the water fountain. They scuttled away, like two beady-eyed rats. When I returned to the waiting area I practically scooped Esme up from where she sat quietly reading a two-year old Ladies' Home Journal magazine.

"What was that for?" Esme gasped, giggling softly as I begrudgingly released her from our tight embrace.

"That was for paying Alice's doctor bills," I explained, dragging my fingers through my rumpled hair, slightly embarrassed over my sudden display of affection.

"Oh, Sweetie," Esme chuckled softly, patting my cheek like a child. "You'll have to thank Carlisle for that. I don't have the means to pay for anything. Carlisle brings home the bread and butter. I'm merely the one who burns it."

"Literally and figuratively," Edward muttered below his breath.

Esme and I glanced at each other stoically before releasing a soft, much needed giggle that sounded odd in the stuffy, dismal waiting room filled with Cullens and Swans who glared at one another from each side of the room.

When Carlisle and Jasper returned from the cafeteria, I gave Carlisle a rib-cracking hug that caught him off guard. He quietly chuckled, patting my back awkwardly the entire time.

The second thing that changed was Garrett and Kate's relationship status. Garrett sat in the waiting room for two days, mooning over Kate like a lost little puppy. Kate was the picture of boredom as she thumbed through page after page of old Cosmo magazines, humming in approval when she'd find an article concerning how to appropriately pleasure your man.

He finally got a bait of it after the second day. Garrett stalked over to where Kate sat and towered over her with nothing but wrath etched on his face. He demanded that she 'get up and come on' which she shockingly did. After that the two of them disappeared.

I didn't see Kate much between visiting hours after that. She continued to pop in from time to time when it was her turn to visit Alice, but other than that, she belonged to Garrett once more.

The non-existent relationship I had with my mother? It remained non-existent, although at epic proportions.

Renee Swan arrived on day two of Alice's admission to the hospital. I'm still not sure who called her. She stormed in, sniffing and sobbing, pressing a tissue to her nose, wailing about her 'poor baby.'

I sat in the hard, plastic chair, watching as she spoke to the doctor. I dissected her every move, each change of the expressions on her face, carefully gauging just how honest she was in her reaction to her daughter's overdose. I wanted to believe she was nothing but sincere in her reaction, but the moment her hazel eyes flashed from mine to Edward's, I knew the concern, the heartache, was all fake. It was a poorly executed plan to play the role she felt as though she were forced to play: heartbroken mother.

"Bella, are you hungry, dear?" Esme asked, reaching out and patting my leg as my mother stared at us through narrowed eyes. "I'll run down to the cafeteria and pick us up some coffee and doughnuts. Does that sound good?"

I absently nodded, her words barely registering as my mother continued to watch us. Esme, unaware of my mother's presence, stood, planted a gentle kiss to my forehead, and left the waiting room in a whirl, leaving nothing but a trail of expensive perfume in her wake.

Another change was that Esme Cullen, in two days, had become the mother Renee Swan never was, not once, the entire eighteen years of my existence.

Carlisle and Edward were not so unobservant.

"The nerve...how did she find out about Alice anyway?" Edward grumbled, reached out and grasping my hand like a lifeline.

"I'm not sure...but I don't like her being here. Not one little bit," I muttered, warily watching my mother as she tilted her head back and followed a nurse, disappearing into the intensive care unit.

"Bella, I've been meaning to mention this before," Carlisle sighed, drawing my attention away from where my mother once was. "Esme and I have been talking...she and I, well, we'd feel more comfortable knowing you were somewhere safe, somewhere close by. Bella, we'd like nothing more than for you and Alice, once she's on the mend, to stay with us for a while."

I stared at that man forever, that devil in an expensive suit. Carlisle Cullen was a man I'd been trained to hate, but in that moment there was only two other men I'd ever loved more. One was dead. The other sat dutifully by my side.

"Thank you, Carlisle," I whispered, noticing Aro in my peripheral.

I'll never know whether or not Aro heard Carlisle's offer. By the time my eyes met his, he'd dipped his head, disappearing into Alice's room with Renee. Glancing at the clock on the wall, I noticed it was visiting time.

Esme returned with the coffee and doughnuts just as I stood. She handed me the coffee and I thanked her, taking it in my hands, cherishing the warmth the cup provided in the cold, clinical room.

I kicked up a fuss with a nurse who insisted only two visitors were allowed in Alice's room at a time. When she noticed I wasn't about to back down she hesitantly turned a blind eye.

Entering the room, I ignored my mother who played pity party for my uncle. She was sobbing, but her face was dry. He was really eating it up too, coddling her like a small child.

Instead, I went to my sister, my sleeping angel, who lay peacefully in the bed. Tubing ran from every orifice on her body, and I swallowed the knot of sadness that formed in my throat. I refused to cry any longer. I had to be strong for my sister. I had to be brave. Alice would come out of this alive, possibly not unscathed, but definitely alive.

Then she moved just a twitch.

"She moved! She moved!" I hollered, a smile, the first real smile, breaking across my face. "She moved her finger!"

My blubbering brought the attention of the doctors and nurses who shuffled inside the tiny room, shooing us away.

My uncle looked enraged, but quickly hid the expression once I noticed it. My heart thumped erratically in my chest, for at that moment I knew he had something to do with my sister's overdose. And my mother...she did little to hide the sense of disappointment displayed on her features.

"I have to get Alice out of here," I whispered to Edward, once out of earshot of my relatives. Carlisle and Esme listened in curiously. "I know Aro had something to do with Alice's overdose. I don't have proof, I can just feel it...deep in my veins I can feel it. What if he tries to finish the job? What if he tries to kill her?"

"We'll think of something," Edward whispered, his eyes darting to his uncle's. "We'll find some way to get her out of here."

"How about an agreement?" Carlisle drawled, taking a long sip of the hot swell of coffee in his hands.

"What sort of agreement?" I inquired.

"You get rid of the suit," he smiled, nodding his head past my shoulder. "and I'll take care of Alice."

~o0o0o0o0o~

The building on the outside was nondescript, looking like any other hole-in-the-wall barbeque joint in the South: red brick, crumbling around the edges, the word 'Bar-B-Que' painted in large, fading letters along one side, potted plants lining the front of the store, their glossy leaves wilting and brown along their once pointed tips.

The inside of the restaurant was filled with the sounds of old men, laughing in camaraderie with one another. Their quiet chuckles filled the room, their eyes sparkling as they told stories of better days. The laughter was intermingled with the sound of forks clinking against cheap dinnerware, causing me to cringe; it was a sound that grated on my nerves.

I sat at a small, round table, my fingers absently tracing the deep scrapes and cracks along the oak surface. Mason jars filled with cheap, dollar-store flowers sat on display on each table, a thin coating of dust lacing the stiff, fading, flowery petals.

I removed a knife from the mismatched silverware which was wrapped with a single sheet of a paper towel. I spun the knife on the table, stopping it each time it twirled around, the tip of the silvery, water-spotted utensil pointing at my table companion each time.

My dinner company paid me no mind. He was too busy devouring a barbeque sandwich. The pulled pork fell from the edges of the homemade bun, landing in rust-colored lumps on his white plate, splattering the orangey sauce in tiny droplets along the surface of the marred table. Tiny dots of sauce speckled the front of his pristine shell-colored shirt, the sleeves shoved up over his impressive biceps. He wore a tie as well, although it was loosened around his collar and thrown over one shoulder in a haphazard sort of manner.

A month ago, hell, maybe a week ago, that man's mere presence would set me on edge, but so much had happened in the span of that summer. I felt as though I were hollow, spooned out, empty, the way Alice and I would gut a pumpkin at Halloween.

Alice loved nothing more than to carve a grotesque face in the seasonal gourds, pulling the guts of the pumpkin through the mouth. The bright orange strands and smooth, white seeds would pour from the jack-o-lantern's mouth and onto the porch steps, looking as though he'd vomited everywhere. My sister was always doing gross things like that.

"You sure you don't want no dinner, child?" a thick voice inquired.

I glanced up and met the almond-shaped eyes of our waitress. She was a woman in her mid-forties with skin the color of smooth ebony. Her silky black hair was pulled back in a smart bun, tendrils near her temples curled sweetly and situated perfectly near her tiny ears.

Her mocha eyes darted nervously from my glass, where she was refilling my sweet tea, to the man in the suit sitting across from me. Even Peaches, as her name tag read, could smell a true pig over the thick, spicy scent of pulled pork wafting in the humid air.

"No, ma'am," I murmured, glancing at the man across from me pointedly. "I reckon it's too hot to eat today."

"You got that right, Sugar," she muttered, wiping the back of her arm across her brow, capturing the beaded sweat gathered there.

Peaches filled the man's glass to the brim. She then removed a stack of napkins from her apron, placing them directly in front of the man as she eyed the mess he continued to make on the table she would later so diligently clean. The man ignored her, shoving a forkful of slaw into his mouth. He closed his eyes, humming happily to himself as he swallowed. Peaches sighed and started to step away, but paused.

"You holler if you need anything, you hear?" she whispered to me, a crease forming between her eyebrows as she stared between me and the man worriedly. "I mean anything."

"I will," I assured her with a smile. "I'll be fine. Thank you."

Peaches gave me a doubtful look before shuffling away. I continued to swirl the knife around on the table, watching the man as he quite literally cleaned his plate with the remains on his bun, sopping up the sauce and such with the fragrant bread, then popping it into his mouth.

When he finished, he wiped the corners of his mouth, dropping the dirty napkin on his nearly bare plate. He gave me a crooked grin, but I felt nothing. Nothing but bitterness over being stuck in that damned old restaurant on a muggy August day while my sister lay in a hospital bed just two miles up the road.

"As much as I've enjoyed watching you eat everything but the kitchen sink," I sighed. "it'd be nice if you filled me in on why you're here. My sister is in intensive care, Detective Uley, and I don't like leaving her alone for long. I'd like to get back to her, if you don't mind."

"And why is it that you don't like leaving her alone, Bella?" the good detective asked, the merry shimmer and shine of the wonderful bounty of a meal leaving his eyes, replaced with the curiosity of a cat. "I can assure you she has the best care money can buy. I hear old Carlisle Cullen is footing the bill himself."

A wave of anger washed over me as I stared at that man. There was nothing I hated more than a Fed, other than my uncle, James, and Liam...and sometimes my mother, who'd almost surpassed Aro on my hate scale. Memories of the FBI and DEA flashed through my mind, storming into our house, terrifying my sissy. I hated them. I hated them all.

"The Cullens have been very...generous towards me and Alice," I admitted, spinning the knife in his direction once more.

"Why is that?" he asked, the superficial, knowing smile he bestowed upon me causing me to scowl. "Why are they so nice to you and your sister? Because you're bedding their nephew? Because Alice is bedding their pseudo adoptive son?"

"That's why you brought me here? To question me about my sex life?" I asked, smiling smugly as his face turned red when the word 'sex' dripped from my lips. "You're so young, Detective. I'm surprised the FBI didn't send a more...seasoned detective from Jackson to investigate...what exactly are you investigating again?"

"The death of Jacob Black, Royce King, James Cullen, and Liam Cullen," Detective Uley told me, shoving his plate aside, propping his elbows on the scarred table.

"Death? I thought they were disappearances?" I mused, the corners of my mouth pulling down in a frown.

"That's what y'all would like everyone to think, isn't it?" he smirked, shooting me that haughty, knowing glance once more.

"I'm not sure who 'y'all' is, Detective," I shrugged carelessly, picking up the knife and digging the tip into the surface of the table. "I have nothing to do with the disappearances of those men."

Detective Uley silently studied me for a long moment. His nearly black eyes carefully flitted across my features, searching for any source of discomfort or deception hidden within my expression. Peaches returned to the table, clearing away the dishes and offering dessert. Uley shooed her away and she left, biting her bottom lip, the apples of her cheeks reddened beneath her dark skin.

"You want to know why they sent a young detective, Bella?" Detective Uley finally spoke, leaning to the left slightly, grasping the handle of a briefcase that sat tucked securely by his side. "This is why they sent me."

The man opened the briefcase, removed some papers, and tossed them across the table. They slid in front of me, fanning open, exposing photographs and documents. I peered down, my eyes widened by what I read.

"My father investigated the Cullen/Swan dispute for years before his death," the detective muttered, a wistful look playing across his face. "As his father did before him...and his father before him. My father became somewhat...obsessed with it. I specifically requested this case. I owe it to my family to put an end to this dispute."

"Is that what this is...a dispute?" I questioned, picking up the pages, my eyes darting across the lines. "I call it a tragedy, Detective Uley."

"I'd call it more of a legend," he whispered, his eyes sparkling excitedly. "You don't understand how famous your families are, do you, Bella? You don't realize how often your surnames have slipped from the whispered tongues of Southerners for generations? How the dispute between your families has become legendary throughout the South and beyond?"

"Are you tired of it, Bella?" he inquired, cocking an eyebrow. "Are you tired of the whispers and stares? Don't you want to move on with your life?"

"If I help you," I hedged slowly. "If I tell you the things you want to hear...I don't see much of a life for myself, if you catch my drift."

I didn't have to meet his eyes to know he knew exactly what I implied. If I helped that man, I'd be punished for my own offenses.

"What if exoneration is offered on your behalf? On Edward's behalf?" he offered, leaning back in the chair and gazing at me thoughtfully.

"Not good enough," I responded, shoving the papers away, pressing the tip of the knife deeper into the wood as I concentrated on my etching. "I'll confess to nothing, Detective. I've done nothing wrong."

"Bella, I don't believe your sister attempted suicide," he murmured, garnering my attention. "Have you heard about Royce King's truck? It was found in a wooded area not far from your home."

The knife slipped from my fingers, the handle clanging loudly against the table. I pulled my hands below the table to my lap, clasping them together to prevent them from shaking.

"You think Royce tried to kill my sister?" I asked, my brain quickly weaving together the missing pieces of the puzzle. "You think Royce shot her up with heroin, trying to make it appear as an overdose?"

"Your sister has bruising on her body that appeared hours after she was admitted to the hospital," the man replied wearily. "Not from the CPR. Large hand prints on her arms where someone either held her down or gripped her too roughly. She wasn't alone when that heroin was injected into her bloodstream.

"We know Royce has been working with James and Aro," the detective continued. "We've gathered enough evidence against Aro's drug trafficking business to send him away for a long time. If there was any evidence he was involved in Alice's overdose...we could get him for attempted murder as well."

"What about my father's murder? What sort of information do you have on that?" I spat angrily. "That's what started this whole mess! My father and Edward's father were murdered by that man. He didn't pull the trigger, but he murdered them, just the same. Doesn't that count for anything? Alice is in a coma! Royce is missing! What if he never comes back? You'll never get the information you need. Focus on our fathers, Detective Uley, and leave us out of it!"

"I've focused on your fathers, damnit! There is no evidence against Aro, or anyone else!" the man growled, his face turning red, his brown eyes darkening. "I'd be more than happy to put him away for good if there was any! It was my father's dream to end this man! Don't you think I want this, maybe just as badly as you do?"

I thought of the information I had from Nana's safe, information that pointed to James. Other than the diaries and the birth certificate, there was little else to imply Aro was involved with my father and Edward's father's murder. I remembered how Carlisle wanted nothing more than to end the dispute himself...end Aro himself, without the help of the Feds.

The Feds would blame everything on James, ignoring the circumstantial evidence pointing at Aro. Then what? They'd stay in Birchwood searching for James, who, to my knowledge, remained a prisoner in the Cullen home? No.

"No one wants to end this as badly as I do," I grumbled, shoving a loose tendril of hair from my eyes. "Can I go now, Detective? I need to see my sister."

"I'm surprised they're allowing you back inside the hospital," he grunted. "After that stunt you pulled, announcing your relationship with Edward in front of your kin, I'm shocked you're allowed anywhere on the premises. I guess being with a Cullen has its perks."

"Am I free to leave?" I sighed, exhausted by his games.

"Yes, Bella. You're free to leave. But this isn't the last time you'll see me."

"I'm sure," I muttered, cringing as he snickered.

I dropped the knife next to my carving, next to various carvings that people, old and young alike, had scratched into the surface of the table over the years. The blade landed with the tip pointing directly at the picture I'd etched into the surface...the picture of a pair of gloves resting against the battered surface.

* * *

All mistakes are mine. I piddled around after AliCat0623 beta'd (cause I'm a loser like that).

I was able to get back to a few of your reviews, but not all of them. I've been super busy writing! If you have a specific question you can always PM me. I'll always answer a PM, even if I'm unable to respond to your review. I continue to love all your thoughts! Especially your thoughts about Alice's 'mental condition.' Is there a clear answer? Not really. I'll leave it up to YOU to decide if Alice is psychic or not.

The next chapter is a doozy. I'll see y'all real soon.

reviews=lurve


	25. Chapter 25: In My Bones

_Previously, in Chapter 24..._

_I dropped the knife next to my carving, next to various carvings that people, old and young alike, had scratched into the surface of the table over the years. The blade landed with the tip pointing directly at the picture I'd etched into the surface...the picture of a pair of gloves resting against the battered surface._

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Five: In My Bones**

_Dying is a wild night _

_and a new road._

_~Emily Dickinson~_

The minutes, hours, and days dragged by after Alice's overdose. I fretted over my sister. She hadn't moved again, not one single time since that one fateful little twitching of her finger.

Edward, the August sun, and my perpetual state of worry were now the only constants in my life.

Edward remained diligently by my side; he was my rock, my strength, through the stormy trials of those endless summer days. He ignored the whispers, stares, and scowls of my various family members during the time we spent in the hospital, placing a stoic, unwavering expression on his face. The only relatives of mine unaffected by his presence were Kate and Nana.

Emmett gazed at him warily, undoubtedly remembering the incident involving Rose, which we had yet to explain to him. There were far greater things on our minds than Emmett's disgruntled presence.

Jasper weathered the storm with us as well. He was never far from Alice's side. He, like Edward and I, remained near her at all times. Jasper's wrinkled clothes were the same ones he wore the night we found Alice. A smear of dried blood boldly stood out near the hem of his white t-shirt. His blonde hair was disheveled and slightly greasy. To say he was in dire need of a good, hot shower was an understatement. Hell, we all were. I'd tried talking him into going home to bathe and rest, but he'd refused.

Guilt swam in the murky depths of his blue eyes, and I knew he somehow blamed himself for Alice's condition.

My mother's constant presence was nothing short of awkward and unfortunate. She sat in a small recliner-type chair throughout the days, her legs tucked neatly beneath her as she skimmed through the pages of an old magazine. When she'd grow tired, she'd rest her weary head against the old recliner, her auburn curls fanning out against the stiff, salmon-colored fabric.

How sleep came so easily to my mother was beyond my comprehension. I'd only nodded off for a couple of hours those first two days, and even then it was only out of pure exhaustion.

No matter how long I pondered over my mother, I could never wrap my brain around why she remained at the hospital. I expected her to show up and play the part of the sad mother, but I never expected her to remain dutifully by Alice's side. Especially upon finding out who Alice and I were dating.

Renee Swan was pissed upon finding out about Edward, there was no doubt about that. I was unsure why considering her past relationship with James.

First came Renee's shock, then her burning hatred. She'd glare at me with her lips pressed tightly together in a thin line. I begged her. I begged that woman to tell me what she was thinking, what was on her mind. She remained silent, choosing to sit in that fucking stiff-assed recliner and read, ironically enough, _Parents _magazine.

My mother's presence was not only unwanted by me, but by Nana as well. Nana visited frequently at short intervals and called constantly. During her visits she would hover over little Alice, adjusting the sheet and thin blanket tucked around her, while peering anxiously at her face. Nana would squeeze and pat her hand, eventually shuffling out as she struggled in vain to hide her teary eyes.

I guess we all felt a little guilty over Alice. I saw it in Nana's watery eyes, felt it humming through the air from her body as she shuffled quietly away. She blamed herself, just as Jasper did, allowing the 'what ifs' to repeat over and over in her brain.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't blame them both a bit for Alice's overdose. Accusation was easier to swallow than the hard knot of my own guilt that stayed constantly embedded in my throat. I was my sister's protector. I had been since the day she was born. It was my job to keep her safe, and I'd failed her.

I'd failed myself.

Detective Uley continued to sniff around from time to time, although he was pretty neutral around me and my family. We weren't strangers to law enforcement. We never had been, and never would be, so his appearance didn't plague us much. We simply answered his questions and then ignored him, as we had in previous years when the FBI or DEA stepped in.

There were two people conveniently missing in the mix of things: Uncle Aro and Royce King.

Once Alice was weaned from the ventilator and began breathing on her own, the frequency of our uncle's visits dwindled until they eventually ceased altogether. Alice had yet to awaken, but I held onto hope, praying for my sister to get better, wake up, and explain the events that took place the night of her overdose.

Aro's disappearing act tugged and itched at my brain, causing me to feel all twisted and jumbled up inside. I remained suspicious of him, believing he possibly hired or bribed Royce to murder my sister. It was all too convenient how Aro left the football game, how Royce's truck was found stashed in the woods near our home, and the hand-shaped bruising on Alice's body.

I remembered Kate's words about how Ben was selling drugs for Aro. I thought about questioning Ben, but in the end I held back; he was untrustworthy. The last thing I needed was for him to tip Aro off that I was onto everything.

It was a Sunday when life took another nose dive, spinning our world into a tornado of chaos. I awoke with my body stiff from the hard, uncomfortable recliner Edward and I shared.

Normally the two of us lay in each others arms, although sometimes I'd climb on Alice's hospital bed and rest next to my sister. That morning, however, I awoke alone, with nothing but the gentle breaths of my sister to comfort me, and the sound of my mother's incessant light snores.

I stretched and yawned before standing from the chair. Glancing through the blinds, I noticed it was near daybreak. The sun was barely over the horizon, coating the dewy morning in a light sherbet-orange glow.

After shuffling to the restroom and brushing my teeth, I peeked my head out into the hallway. My eyes fell upon two very familiar silhouettes standing down the lengthy hospital corridor.

Aro and Billy Black.

Concealing myself Alice's room, I watched the two men as they conversed, solemn expressions on both their faces. Their eyes fell haphazardly on Alice's door at times, but I was confident the two men couldn't see me through the thin crack between door and wall. They spoke at length before they turned and strolled down the corridor leading to the elevators, and eventually disappearing from my view.

I began to step away from the door, but paused as I noticed Edward slip from a room near where Aro and Billy had stood. Edward's face was pinched in distress as he stalked to Alice's room, his eyes dark and determined. I gently pushed the door open, fully revealing myself to him as he caught my wondering gaze.

Edward halted at the door, glancing in to see Renee still huddled and sleeping on the salmon-colored recliner. He gestured for me to follow him, his eyes stormy and clouded with emotion. I cast one last glimpse into my sister's room before slipping past the door and it shut quietly behind me.

"You were right," he whispered, glancing down the long corridor where Aro and Billy once stood. "We have to get Alice out of here."

"Why? What's going on?" I questioned, my heart seizing in my chest.

"I talked Jasper into going home to clean up," he explained. "Then I went to grab a Coke from the vending machine. I started back to Alice's room and heard Aro and Billy talking. I ducked into an empty room and stood near the door to listen.

"They were all in on it, Bella. Aro, Billy, and Royce. That's what they were talking about. Billy was the look-out. He watched your house the night of Alice's overdose. He called Royce after you left for the game, then called Aro when we pulled up. He was there, Bella. Somewhere on your property then entire time. Watching, waiting."

"Oh, my God," I whispered. "I knew it. I felt it in my bones. Buzzing in my head. I just knew they were all in on it together.

"When Alice wakes up, she's going to tell everyone what happened! It'll be enough to have them all locked up."

Edward stared at me for a long moment. His green eyes flickered across my face, carefully studying my features. His jaw was clenched, the muscle beneath the flesh bulging as he bit down, thoughtfully appraising me.

"What if she doesn't wake up, Bella?" he finally asked, his voice soft, yet firm. "What if Alice never wakes up? They'll get away with it. They'll get away with killing everyone. We can't let them get away with it, Bella. Besides, I don't think Aro plans for Alice to wake up."

"What do you mean?" I whispered.

"Aro can't risk Alice waking up," he explained, raking his fingers through his hair. "That's what the two of them were talking about. That Fed has been snooping around. The doctor said Alice should pull through fine. Aro is nervous. Nervous people do crazy things. I think he'll try to kill Alice, somehow, some way. Maybe he'll pay someone off; get a nurse to mix up her meds with something lethal. Maybe he'll..."

"Stop!" I demanded, holding my hand up and shaking my head. "I don't want to know your theories on how he's gonna off my sister! I need to know how to save her! What do you suggest?"

"We beat him at his own game," he coolly replied.

"How?"

"I'm not sure what to do," he sighed, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. "But I know someone who might. I'm calling Carlisle."

**~DSDW~**

"Alice, you really look like shit," Kate grumbled later that day, removing my sister's pale, flaccid leg from beneath the thin, mint-green blanket. "Being in a coma is no excuse for lack of good personal hygiene."

Kate slowly began painting Alice's toenails an audacious bloody red, the color standing out boldly against her pale skin. Alice remained in her peaceful slumber, her long black lashes resting gently against her cheeks, unaware of our cousin's insults and pampering.

A textbook laid in my lap, as it had all day long. I couldn't for the life of me tell you what subject it was. Kate gathered my school work each day, bringing it to the hospital so I could work on it in the confines of Alice's room.

There was something about that particular day that stole my attention from the pages in front of me. It could have been the doctors constantly shuffling in and out all day long, confounded by my sister's condition. They could find no medical reason for her state of unconsciousness. Maybe it was the strain of my mother's vicious glares weighing on my mind, or the thought of Aro harming my sister. Either way, my homework remained in my lap, untouched.

"I still can't get over the three of you," Makenna mused, curling her legs beneath her in the chair my mother normally rested in. "Dating Cullen boys."

Renee had left the room earlier for a cup of coffee. I'm sure she was simply tired of the awkward glares that came from Kate, Jasper, Edward, and me.

Edward and I remained in our normal spot, curled up in the recliner at Alice's bedside. He traced patterns across my bare arm while Kate and Makenna spoke. Goosebumps erupted across my flesh with each delicate stroke of his finger. I heard his quiet chuckle in my ear, my head resting in the crook of his neck. I was content in his arms, even when my mother was present, even during my cousin's questions of our relationship, and my sister's unresponsive state.

"Ben is furious, FYI," Makenna continued, taking the nail polish from a glaring Kate. She ran the brush along Alice's big toe, coating the nail with the angry color. "He says you're a bunch of traitors. I can't believe your parents didn't flip their shit, Kate."

"Oh, they did," Kate replied, holding her head up high, gazing down her nose at our cousin. "They were pissed, but what are the gonna do? Shoot me? Ha! Aro, maybe, but not them."

"Yeah, Aro is super pissed," Makenna continued, her voice light and careless. "I heard him talking to Daddy at the office. They didn't know I was listening. Everyone assumes I'm clueless, walking around with my head in the clouds. I know what's going on."

"What do you mean?" Kate asked suspiciously, her crystal blue eyes narrowing on Makenna's undisturbed face. "What did you hear them say?"

"They were arguing," she shrugged, finishing the last toenail, and shoving the brush into the bottle before screwing it back on. "Their secretary called in sick and they needed someone to fill in for her. I was filing paperwork for Daddy when Aro came storming in. He slammed the door behind him, but I could still hear every word."

Makenna's voice trailed off. Her cocoa-colored eyes darted up, landing on Alice's resting face. Makenna pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, nervously chewing on her chapped lip as she studied Alice, her best friend.

Makenna was making a decision at that very moment, and we could all tell. The four of us said nothing, choosing to silently wait her out. Finally, she drew in a deep breath, then spoke in a quick, frantic whisper.

"They're all in on it," she admitted, glancing between me, Kate, Jasper, and Edward. "Aro is the ringleader. It was all his idea, but Marcus, Alec, and Felix, they'll do anything he tells them to do.

"They've been working with James Cullen and a man named Liam for years. They were planning on taking down Carlisle soon, taking over his contacts so they can build their own empire.

"Then y'all messed up their plans, started snooping around, messing with the Cullens. They're scared of you, Bella. They're scared of you and Alice, terrified that you have some sort of information on Uncle Charlie's death.

"They don't trust James. They work with him, but they don't trust him. You can't trust anyone in the game. He's got something linking Aro to Charlie's death, but I dunno what it is. They're scared, you know? They're scared James gave y'all the information."

"Why are you telling us this?" I asked, my heart thumping frantically in my chest.

"Because Alice is my best friend," Makenna responded quietly. "She's always been there for me. I love my father, but what he and his brothers are doing is wrong. I'm sorry, Kate, that you had to find out about Uncle Felix this way."

"My father is a dirty dog," Kate sighed. "I love the bastard for the simple fact that he's my daddy, but that doesn't make what he did right. We need that evidence."

"James still isn't talking," Edward murmured, garnering our attention as he continued to slowly stroke my arm, appearing blissfully lost in the action as his eyes followed the trail of his fingers.

_James still isn't talking. _Did that mean he and Liam remained in Carlisle's basement? That question remained unspoken. I was unsure if Edward felt comfortable enough to discuss James and Liam in front of Makenna. I tucked my question away, saving it for another time.

"It doesn't matter," Jasper spoke up, finally breaking his silence.

Jasper was so quiet I'd almost forgotten he was there. He sat on the opposite side of Alice's hospital bed, lovingly holding one of her limp hands in his own. He stared at her miserably, his deep blue eyes drowning in worry.

Kate opened her mouth, possibly to ask the meaning of his simple statement, but she was interrupted by the shrieking of an alarm. The sound was shattering, the type of shrill that leaves your ears throbbing and your brain bleeding.

"Shit!" Makenna exclaimed, pressing her hands over her ears as the ear-splitting blare rang out. "What the hell is that?"

"It's the fire alarm," Kate yelled, holding her own hands over her ears, her eyes wide with panic.

There was a flutter of activity outside Alice's open door. Staff rushed by, frantically pacing around, and yelling to one another above the deafening noise.

Tossing my books on the nearby windowsill, I jumped up, following Kate and Makenna to the door. The three of us looked out in the hallway, with Edward and Jasper behind us. The group of us began glancing back and forth down the corridor, anxiously trying to see what all the commotion was about.

A tall man wearing khaki pants, a blue button-up shirt, and a white lab coat paused near the doorway. His thick, dark eyebrows were drawn in concern as he grasped a clipboard in his hands and gestured down the corridor.

"Y'all need to get out," he hollered in a firm, yet calm voice. "There's a fire on the second floor. You need to take the stairwell and exit the building as quickly as possible."

"What about my sister?" I asked, reaching out and grabbing Kate's arm for support. "What about the other patients?"

"We'll take care of her," he assured me. "We're well prepared. We have fire drills frequently. Now, do as I say and get out of the building as quickly as possible."

Kate and Makenna nodded, but I remained in place, refusing to leave my sister's side, that is, until Edward placed his hands on the small of my back, gently guiding me from the room.

"We need to leave," he yelled over the shrill of the alarm.

"No! I'm not leaving Alice!" I screamed, reaching out and gripping the handrail in the corridor as Edward began pulling me away.

"Yes, the hell, you are," he growled, wrapping his arms around me, and dragging me down the hall. "I'm not leaving you in a burning building, Bella. I don't give a damn who else is left behind, as long as it's not you."

I fought against him, but he held firm pulling me, kicking and screaming, to the fire exit. I caught a glimpse of Jasper's troubled eyes where he stood torn in Alice's doorway. He gazed first into her room before locking eyes with mine once more. I pleaded with him to watch my sister, a silent plea, and he gave a strong, understanding nod.

A burly security guard, dressed in navy blue, appeared nearby, yelling and demanding Jasper exit the building. Jasper remained unmoved until the guard wrapped his meaty hands around Jasper's arms and hauled him away from the door, shoving him in our direction. Jasper started to protest, raising his voice high above the blast of the alarms. The guard hollered back, his hand hovering over the taser clasped to his belt. Jasper begrudgingly fell behind us, gazing at me with a solemn, apologetic expression playing on his face.

The parking lot and luscious, brilliantly green grassy area in front of Birchwood Medical Center was flooded with murmuring, worried individuals. We joined them, staring at the large gray building in front of us. Smoke trailed from the lower floor of the hospital, near a wing not far from where Alice lay blissfully unaware of the troubles of the outside world.

My mother appeared nearby, frantic and crying. I heard her yelling my name, pulling at the sleeve of my shirt, but I paid her little attention. My skin crawled as a strange, yet familiar feeling languidly washed over me.

"Something's not right," I whispered to Edward, who peered curiously at the building. "This fire...this is no coincidence."

I could feel it, whispering in my ear, scratching at my brain, creeping through my bones. The fire inside the hospital, so very near where my sister lay, was a planned, carefully hatched-out scheme.

**~DSDW~**

_Three days later..._

I awoke groggy and disoriented. My eyes fluttered open and I glanced around, momentarily confused by the very different surroundings from what I typically awoke to.

The sheet and comforter on the bed were cozier than the sheets on my bed at home, and an entirely different color. The soft morning light wafted lazily through a window on the wrong side of the room, warming my left leg instead of my right one. The ceiling I stared up at was stark white, bare, without even a hint of cheap, plastic stars with their dim, early-morning glow.

My heart sped up when the bed shifted. I heard a muffled groan from beneath the billowing sheets beside me. It was a very familiar, very sexy groan. It was a sound entirely similar to the ones he made during our throws of passion, and it sent my heart into overdrive. I tentatively reached beside me, pulling the cottony sheets from the top of the long, disheveled mass beside me, peering directly into Edward's squinted, sleepy, mossy-green eyes.

As our eyes met, his brightened. The confusion melted from his face and was replaced with a lazy, lopsided grin. Butterflies flitted around in the pit of my stomach as I felt his fingers creep beneath the sheet. The pads of his slightly roughened hands drifted over the bare flesh of my belly.

"Mornin', Sugar," he whispered, his voice laced with sleep. "A man can get used to this."

"Used to what?" I asked, a knowing smile on my face as his fingers drifted further south.

I simply wanted to hear him say the words, to bask in the warmth of his love. It was the only thing holding me together after Alice's overdose, after the fire at the hospital, and after...the rest.

"I could get used to waking up beside you every day," he replied, sending the butterflies dancing from my stomach to my chest. "Forever."

"That's so sweet," I murmured.

Edward gave me a lazy grin. He then slid his long fingers beneath my panties. I gasped at the sensation of his fingers brushing against my clit. I was already wet, waiting for him.

"There's nothing _sweet_ about what I'm fixin' to do to you. Do you know how sinful you look in the early morning sunlight?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, and chuckling at the moans escaping my lips.

My words were caught in my throat, lodged there by the thrills shooting through my body. My toes curled, gripping the downy sheets between them as my hips involuntarily lifted from the bed.

I reached out and grabbed his hair, raking my fingers through the strands, tugging it roughly. He groaned, his eyes turning black, his jaw clenching as his gentle strokes against my clit become firmer, more forceful.

Suddenly, he pulled his fingers from my body, leaving me panting, wet, and wanton. I gazed up at him in confusion, long enough for him to pull the tangled sheets from between us.

Edward crawled between my legs, his erection prominent through the boxer briefs he wore. He stared down at me hungrily. I wore nothing but his soft, worn t-shirt still smelling of his heavenly fragrance from the day before, and a thin pair of damp panties.

"Pure sin," he drawled, his eyes gleaming as he grasped each side of my panties, pulling them from my legs, and tossing them carelessly over his shoulder.

Edward's fingers trailed beneath the worn fabric of his that shirt I wore. My breaths became quick, sharp, as he found my nipples, rolling them tightly between his fingers. One of his hands abandoned my breast as it trailed down my naked flesh, teasing me where I needed him the most. I bucked against his fingers, gasping when he finally pressed one, then two, deep within me.

"Do you like that, Baby?" he grinned, smirking as he heard my whimpers, loving the way he caused me to squirm.

"Yes!" I gasped.

"Can you hear how wet you are?" he smirked, the smug bastard.

I could. I could hear the sounds of his fingers sliding in and out of my slick body. It was so dirty, so wicked the way he made me feel. I tittered on the edge, so close to falling over, when he finally groaned, stood, and removed his own underwear. He crawled back over me, the predatory grin in full effect as he grasped my inner thighs, spreading my legs wide.

Edward teased me for a bit, pressing his cock against my clit before thrusting roughly inside of me. I bit back a scream, terrified to wake our housemates, who'd probably already heard our late-night escapades.

Edward raised my legs, placing my ankles over his shoulders. Leaning down, with practically all his weight pressed against me, he pounded into me relentlessly, grinning like the devil at each of my strangled moans.

"Touch yourself," he commanded, the smile slipping from his face as his greedy eyes followed the direction my hand went, drifting between my legs.

My body was wound up tight, coiled, and ready to explode as he rode me harder. I lifted my hips up, breathless by the sparks burning through my body. The sensation of my fingers circling frantically between my legs, and Edward thrusting and rotating his hips, became too intense. I began to uncoil, tightening around him, my head thrown back against the sheets as I came harder than I ever had before, over and over.

I was weak, exhausted from the intensity of the orgasm. Edward dropped my legs from his shoulders. He leaned down, the movement of his hips and thighs increasing as he nuzzled my neck, the three-day old scruff on his strong jaw burning my skin in a deliciously painful sort of way.

Edward's sweaty face was still pressed in the crook of my neck, his teeth gently biting my tender skin, when I felt his release. My name spilled from his mouth as his movements turned frantic once again, before slowing into deep dips and dives, constantly stretching me until eventually slowing. He collapsed on top of me, causing me to groan beneath his dead weight. Edward snickered, rolled over to the side, and pulled me so that I was draped halfway over him.

"Let's stay like this for the rest of the day," he suggested coyly, stroking my damp arm. "Naked and sated. Maybe go for round two later."

"Round two?" I giggled. "What happened to rounds one through three last night? They don't count?"

"Of course they do," he responded with a crooked grin. "Every second of my life, no matter what I'm doing, counts for something if I'm spending it with you."

His sweet words choked me up. My throat tightened and tears prickled at the corners of my eyes. The smirk left his lips as he noticed the expression on my face. Edward pressed a delicate kiss to my forehead, pulling me into the bend of his neck as he ran his fingers through my slightly tangled hair. He began humming an unfamiliar, soothing tune.

My eyes wandered around the room as he hummed, taking in the sights around me. It was still hard to believe that Esme and Carlisle invited me to live with them, as we barely knew one another from the brief, secretive encounters I'd had with their nephew.

Just three days prior, right after the fire in the hospital, Edward escorted me back to my house to gather my belongings. We strolled up the driveway hand in hand, but I froze near the front door, my feet planted firmly to the ground. I was unsure if the house was cleaned after Alice's overdose. The thought of seeing the inside of the house in the same state of disarray terrified me. I remembered Alice's long, ebony tendrils, hacked off in uneven strands, trailing up the stairs. The image sent icy shivers down my spine.

"Stay in my car and wait for me," Edward instructed, cupping his hands around my face, tilting my head back, and forcing me to look into his eyes. "I'll go in and pack your stuff. Okay? You don't have to be brave every second of every day, Bella. Even the strongest person has moments of weakness. Let me take care of you, Sugar. It's my job now. I want nothing more than to take care of you for the rest of our lives."

I stared into his eyes for a long moment, lost in his words, the solemnity of his voice. In my heart I knew he would do just that. He would spend every waking moment watching over me, protecting me, as no one had since the day my father left the earth.

I nodded numbly, stumbling back to the car. I slipped inside, watching as he disappeared into the house with a stack of boxes. He returned several minutes later with the first large cardboard box. I helped him load my meager belongings in his car, slightly disheartened that all the things I owned in the word fit into a single vehicle in four wrinkled, fraying boxes.

We returned to Edward's house and I became somewhat bashful. It was an odd, uncomfortable feeling that I wasn't used to.

Esme met us in the foyer and helped us carry the boxes upstairs. I halted near Edward's bedroom door as Esme slipped inside. Her head popped out moments later, glancing curiously at me where I stood.

"Well, don't just stand there," she joked, a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eyes. "Come on in."

"You...want me to stay in Edward's bedroom?" I asked hesitantly, unsure if it wasn't some sort of secret mother-type test she was pulling on me.

Esme stared at me for the longest time, nothing but humor shining in her eyes.

"Silly girl," she snickered. "I'm old, but I'm not stupid. Can you honestly tell me that you and Edward won't be sneaking into each other's rooms as soon as the lights go out? Can the two of you stay away from each other every night?"

Edward spoke up before I had a chance to even begin processing her words.

"Hell no," he grumbled, grabbing my hand, and pulling me into the room.

"That's what I thought," she laughed. "Put your things in Edward's room and wash up. Supper will be ready in an hour."

Shaking her head with amusement, Esme dumped the box she held on top of Edward's bed and exited the room.

Esme was right of course. We spent that first night doing nothing but kissing, touching, and exploring; learning from one another, and teaching each other what we each so desperately desired. It was a distraction from the previous days, a way to escape the emotions we refused to face by drowning ourselves in one another.

Edward crawled into bed with me that first night, a haphazard smile on his face. He yanked my shirt up, sucking a puckered nipple between his teeth. My fingers traced the hard planes of his back as he licked and toyed, taking turns on each nipple. My nails dug into his feverish flesh. I smiled as he moaned, already hard, thrusting against me.

I begged him to take me. And he did, over and over, burying himself deep within me. I needed the release, I needed to feel something, anything other than the uncertainty of the future; a future without my sister, a future where Edward and I were together, beside one another, on display for the whole world to see.

I hooked my feet behind his slick back, pressing my heels roughly against his rigid muscles, forcing him flush against me. He felt the desperation in my body, saw it in my eyes. His breathing picked up pace, uneven and deep, and before long he drove himself inside me without warning. I cried out. He stared down into my eyes. Then he pounded into me, filling that ache, quenching the ever present thirst I had for him, for his body, for the feeling of his hard muscles against my soft curves.

We found our release, then searched for it again and again, until Esme pounded on the door, informing us that she wasn't deaf. We laughed, and the anxieties of the previous days washed away for a brief period of time. It felt good. It felt so good to smile and giggle, to lose myself in his strong, reassuring arms, against his wet, slick body. For that one brief moment, I was free. I was whole. I was just Bella, and he was just Edward. Things were simple, and we were in love.

Everything came crashing back down that next morning, after our lovemaking session. I took a long shower, thoroughly washing the scent of sex from my body. Rose was sitting on the bed waiting on me when I re-entered Edward's room, a pair of black heels on her lap. A black dress laid by her side.

Rose quietly left the room long enough for me to slip on the dress. She knocked a few minutes later and I murmured for her to come in. She regarded me with a soft, understanding expression on her face.

I sat on the edge of Edward's bed while she pulled up a chair, silently painting my face with makeup from a large, bulging bag. She took her time, combing and curling my hair, making me pretty for my sister.

When she finished, she gestured for me to follow her to the bathroom, but I shook my head in response. I didn't want to see the girl in the mirror, too concerned there would be a glimpse of fear, of falsity staring back at me.

Rose frowned at my refusal, but it quickly melted away as the bedroom door opened. Edward gave me a small smile, his eyes never leaving mine as he entered the room, pulling me into his arms. My lips trembled, but I fought back the tears, terrified to drop the mask that I hoped, that I prayed, would stay intact that day, and for the rest of the days to follow.

"You can do this," he whispered, pressing a kiss to my forehead. "You're still the strong, courageous Bella I fell in love with. You can do this."

Taking a deep breath, I nodded. Edward dropped his arms from our embrace, intertwining his fingers through mine. He led me from the room with Rose falling in place behind. We walked down the long, winding stairway. We met Carlisle and Esme at the foot of the stairs, looking like two models in their Sunday best.

The four of us loaded up into Carlisle's car and pulled from his driveway down the long, winding country road. We left Birchwood in our mourning clothes and headed out to Mayhaw to bid my sister one last parting farewell.

* * *

Thanks, AliCat0623, for beta'ing for me on a holiday :(

Happy Memorial Day to all my readers who celebrate this great day! *waves flag proudly*

Hoodfabulous Fic Recs:

_The Other Way_ by Honeybeemeadows. This fic...I don't have it in me to adequately describe this fic. It sucked me in, confusing me, then threw a bucket of cold water on me. It drew every type of emotion possible from within. It is easily at the top of my list of favorite fanfictions of all time. Why? Because it made me _feel_. It made me feel every single emotion, and that's a truly great work of fiction. It stayed with me for days after I read it, crawling around in my brain, mixing my feelings into a big pile of mush. Go check it out. It is, for lack of a better word, fabulous.

_In Your Room_ by LayAtHomeMom. This is easily one of the funniest stories I've ever read on fanfiction! It also includes one of my favorite new characters...Chocolate Thunder! *does the Chocolate Thunder dance* Lay also has a new WIP called_ Hooked Up and Locked Down_ and I can already tell it's going to be nothing short of amazing! I'm so happy to have gotten to know Lay through her reviews of my story and then through my reviews of her own.

reviews = lurve


	26. Chapter 26: Musings of a Dead Girl

_Previously, in Chapter Twenty-Five..._

_The four of us loaded up into Carlisle's car and pulled from his driveway down the long, winding country road. We left Birchwood in our mourning clothes and headed out to Mayhaw to bid my sister one last parting farewell._

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Six: Musings of a Dead Girl**

_A penny for my thoughts_

_Oh, no, I'll sell 'em for a dollar_

_They're worth so much more after I'm a goner_

_And maybe then you'll hear the words I've been singin'_

_Funny, when you're dead how people start listenin'_

_~The Band Perry~_

The funeral home hadn't changed much in the years since they buried my father. The building was large and a sorrowful gray color, with thick, white columns near the front. White, wooden rockers sat on each side of the door making an attempt to give the building a more simplistic, country feel. It didn't work. The building stood out like a sore thumb, especially with the Birchwood Dollar Store as a backdrop.

The parking lot was tiny, so tiny in fact, that people parked on each side of the road and filled the entire Dollar Store parking lot. If my sister were there, Lord, she'd be excited to see so many people lulling around in their Sunday best, hoping to catch one last glimpse of the newest fallen Swan.

Carlisle parked the car across the street from the funeral home, and the lot of us slowly filed out. If he, Esme, or Edward were nervous about the idea of mingling in the midst of sworn enemies on enemy territory, they didn't show it. They held an air of cool indifference about them, with their heads held high and gentle smiles on their faces. Edward grasped my sweaty hand in his and I peered up at him.

"Take deep breaths," he instructed, carefully guiding me across the street. "Just relax. I'm here for you."

I nodded numbly. My chest was wound up tight, constricted, feeling as though some demon force had a vice grip on it. I noticed my various cousins standing outside the funeral home, intermingled with different, small groups of people quietly talking to one another. They glanced at us as we approached, a mixture of disgust and shock playing on their features.

Their angry stares were more vengeful than they'd been the day before when I sat in the funeral home all day long greeting visitors, family and friends alike. The Cullens had not graced Birchwood with their presence the day before at my request. I spent that day playing the mournful older sister, smiling and dabbing my eyes with a tissue, as people murmured their condolences. I did it for Alice, to pay respect to my sister, but the next day was _mine_. It belonged to _me_. The shock, the anger, and the betrayal; I craved it, but only from one person.

Aro.

I didn't simply want him to hate me, I _needed_ him to hate me. The gloves were off. By bringing the Cullens to my sister's funeral, it was as though I were beckoning him to me, daring him to cross the same line with me as he'd crossed with Alice. I needed him to seek me out, to try me. I was ready for him.

It was time for Aro to pay for the pain and suffering he'd inflicted on me and my family our entire lives. It was time for him to pay for his sins and meet his maker. It was time for Aro to die.

I held my head high as I passed neighbors and family members from out of town. A tall man with dark features and a smart, gray suit held the door open for me. The man was none other than Agent Uley, who continued to nose around in my family's business. I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to shake him for a while, so I decided to simply ignore him, refusing to give him the acknowledgement that he so desperately desired.

Edward loathed Agent Uley. Edward had a silly notion that Uley had some sort of sick fascination with me, and the Swan family in general. I tried to look at Uley through Edward's eyes, but there was nothing there to indicate that Uley viewed me as nothing more than a Swan, a child of the murdered man whose case Uley's own father could never solve.

We entered the lobby, slowly melting into the crowd of people gathered there. Their light whispers and chuckles melted away as our appearance slowly became noticeable. Then the whispers returned tenfold, the quiet murmurings of curious townsfolk who had nothing better to do with their lives than spend it talking about others.

I stood behind Carlisle and Esme, with Edward by my side, as they took turns signing their name in the guest book. Edward took his turn as well, and the four of us entered the sanctuary. There was a line formed from the lobby all the way through the middle aisle of the sanctuary, leading to the shiny white casket facing the rows of wooden pews. The smell of carnations assaulted my senses, drifting around me, pricking my memory, and instantly reminding me of past funerals and death.

A few brave individuals spoke to Carlisle and Esme as we passed; they were businessmen who knew him through the factory he owned and operated. I was sure if Aro were nearby, the brave souls wouldn't have ventured to speak to Carlisle and Esme, but Aro was nowhere near where we stood. No, Aro stood boldly in front of Alice's casket, along with my other family members, greeting the visitors with a smile on his face as he shook their hands and received their well-wishes.

There was a soft smile on his weathered face, a face so closely resembling my father's, and I hated Aro for it. I hated him for playing the role of grieving uncle, I hated him for the strong resemblance he held to my father, but most of all I hated him for sending Royce to my house to murder my sister.

Carlisle, Esme, and Rose stood in line like the dignified folks they surprisingly were. I grasped Edward's hand tightly, before sliding my arm through his, and he escorted me towards the front of the funeral home. We breezed around the throngs of people waiting quietly to hug or shake the hands of my various family members.

The faces of my aunts and uncles all darkened as Edward and I approached. I gave them a simple little smile, nodded my head, and took a quick left turn. In the front pew sat my mother and grandmother, sitting at opposite ends of the pew from one another. I studiously ignored my mother and fell into place near Nana, who struggled, and failed, to keep her tears at bay.

Unlike everyone else I'd encountered, Nana barely acknowledged my presence for a moment. She was too caught up in her own twisted emotions, mourning the loss of one of her young grandchildren. Her eyes were locked on the white casket, a color seemingly too innocent for my sister. After several seconds, Nana's eyes finally locked on mine. She stared at me as though seeing me for the first time, searching my face for heartache or discomfort.

"Oh, dear Lord," Nana gasped, her voice breaking in fragility and weakness.

Nana reached out and grasped my hand. Her wrinkled fingers were cold and clammy, but I paid them little attention as she laced them through my steady, dry ones. I found myself leaning into her, showing my grandmother the affection that we Swans typically kept bottled up. I wished nothing more than to absorb her grief and guilt, and reassure her that everything was okay, but I couldn't. The truth hurt, and the cold hard truth was that Alice was gone, and Nana would never see her again.

My eyes fell on the white casket with shiny silver handles. It was completely un-Alice-like. Alice was vivid colors, bursting with life. She was reds, yellows, and blues splashed across a white canvas.

I tried to distract myself from the simplistic casket and how wrong it all felt by admiring the spray of flowers arranged on it, but distraction was impossible for me. Alice's favorite flowers were colorful Gerbera daisies, not the carnation mixture my mother picked out. The music playing in the background was slow and morose. My sister was upbeat, fun, and silly. Sure she was always getting into trouble and definitely had her quirks, but she was beautiful nonetheless. Alice deserved more posthumously than a cheap, stinky spray of flowers and depressing funeral parlor music.

I missed Alice. God, how I missed her.

It'd only been a handful of days since the fire at the hospital, the fire that took out the entire wing of Birchwood Medical Center; it was, ironically enough, the Cullen wing that burned. Alice and I had never been apart for more than a day or two our entire lives, and only then because she was off somewhere drunk or high. I always found her, no matter what, but there would be no more finding Alice. You can't find what doesn't want to be found.

The line of visitors grudgingly moved along at a snail's pace. After dropping condolences to those situated around Alice's casket, the visitors would halt near the front pew, speaking quietly to my mother. The ladies were blowing air kisses near each of my mother's cheeks, careful not to smudge her pristine makeup with their lipstick. They then moved to where I sat, shooting me tight smiles and light condolences before shuffling away. Their roaming eyes would land where Edward sat beside me, their powdery cheeks burning as he caught them gawking.

Kate shuffled in sometime during the parade of well wishers and pushed her way roughly through the crowd. A tight, black dress clung to her tiny body, hugging what little curves she had everywhere besides her large breasts. She plopped down beside me, rolling her eyes with a huff. The air around her smelled of cheap booze, mixed with the scent of her floral perfume, and it burned my nose. I wrinkled my nose at her in disgust as she reached inside her cleavage, adjusting herself without a hint of remorse for her indecency.

"Where's Garrett?" I whispered, garnering Kate's attention as she poked and prodded at her boobs.

"Drunk as a skunk, passed out in my truck," she flippantly responded, with a dismissing wave of her hand.

Kate abandoned the act of poking her breasts to glare at my mother, who sat nearby glowering cooly back at her.

"Kate! It's over one-hundred degrees outside!" I quietly scolded. "You can't leave Garrett passed out in your truck! He'll die!"

"Jesus, Bella," she huffed indignantly, her rosy lips dropping into a frown. "For Christ's sake. I'm not a total sadist. I cracked a window."

"How can you be so casual?" I questioned, my chest swelling as I watched Makenna sob near Alice's casket. "You could at least act like you have a little semblance of grief."

Edward chuckled below his breath as I rolled my eyes and scowled at my glowering cousin.

"I'll go check on Garrett," he whispered, his honey-scented breath tickling my ear, temporarily rendering me speechless. "Give Kate a break. She's not one to act like anything other than herself."

I nodded numbly, watching as he stood, tugging at the lapels of his expensive black suit. Even in the midst of turmoil and sorrow, he was the epitome of sex, casually sauntering past the nosy onlookers with a brief nod of his head, his dazzling mossy eyes humble and strong.

I noticed Carlisle, Esme, and Rose approach the front of the sanctuary. The men in my family greeted Esme with stiff, yet kind, smiles. It was almost impossible to greet her any other way, with her stern, sincere eyes and casual smile. She was the epitome of cool and collected. She and Carlisle shook hands with my uncles, who nodded and smiled at Carlisle only for appearances sake, well aware of the hundreds of eyes honed in on them from the surrounding pews.

Carlisle and Esme parted ways with my uncles after their brief greetings. They spoke a kind word to my mother, who blatantly ignored them, and then to my grandmother, who stared at Carlisle as though seeing a ghost. I wondered if he resembled his father, if that was who she thought of each time she happened to catch a glimpse of him throughout the years.

Carlisle and Esme disappeared after that, melting into the thick crowd of folks on the opposite side of the building, sliding casually into a pew near the back of the building.

The hour finally approached to begin the dreaded service. A nervous knot formed in the very pit of my stomach as people quietly shuffled to their seats, already dabbing worn tissues at the corners of their watery eyes. A child had died, and there's no greater sorrow than the death of a child, no greater loss than the life of someone who had yet to really live. There were no possibilities left and no chance of a future. As the music began, I heard sobs and gasps come from the people assembled at the funeral.

I allowed myself to see images of a young Alice making her way through the world, donning a long, white wedding dress, and her belly swelling with the life of a child inside. I knew this vision would never come to pass, and tears eventually sprang to my eyes.

Edward arrived at that very moment, delicately placing something soft and light in my lap as I took a fresh tissue from Kate's hand. Glancing down I couldn't help the small smile that curled on the edges of my lips, or the gasping sob and sharp pain of recognition that stabbed at my chest. In my lap sat a bouquet of lilies. Pure white, flushed yellow at the base, and painfully beautiful, they emitted a heavenly fragrance, wafting in the air all around me. The startling green stems were held together by a long, silky white bow. I smiled because he remembered. He always remembered everything, every important moment, and every deeply ingrained detail.

Our eyes met and time stood still. Everything melted away as we gazed at one another, as our lives came full circle at that very moment, remembering the first time we met, in that very same funeral home.

A sudden movement from Edward broke the spell. Aware of our surroundings, and the biting stares of others, we broke our heady gaze. Edward draped his right arm reassuringly around my shoulders, resting it on the back of the pew. I felt the cold, hard stares of my aunts and uncles, including Aro, from directly behind us. I imagined Aro wished he could reach forward and snap both of our necks at that moment, but he couldn't. There were too many witnesses. It was too public. Also, Agent Uley sat somewhere nearby. I'd caught a glimpse of his penetrating stare through the abundant crowd. He gazed at Edward and I with doubt rooted in the dark depths of his brown eyes.

The service started and we all stood. I found myself searching the rows upon rows of onlookers, who met my gaze as well, as I struggled to find Jasper sitting somewhere quietly nearby, but he was absent. I hadn't seen him in days, and I worried about how he was handling being away from his family. I wondered if he struggled with the absence of those he loved, as I had with Alice, but I knew he was not alone. Keeping his family at arm's length was a price he'd chosen to pay for the rest of his life.

I heard Angie's voice suddenly trill out, cutting through the sobs and stifling scent of flower arrangements. The sound of her voice carried over the audience and flowed through the dismal surroundings. Angie was a broken angel, her voice wavering and cracking at times, full of the emotion and distress of losing a friend. I was shocked when she agreed, even offered, to sing during the funeral. The song she sang was one I'd picked out for Alice.

Alice, surprisingly enough, had a playlist for every event in her life. It was a new revelation to me, something I'd found once I recovered her cell phone that Edward had somehow packed along with my belongings.

I remember snickering and laughing at the different titles for the events of her life. I sighed wistfully when I found the one labeled 'Soulmate,' created after she met Jasper. Then, towards the end of her playlist, was the one labeled 'My Funeral.'

_"If I die young bury me in satin. Lay me down on a bed of roses. Sink me in the river at dawn. Send me away with the words of a love song,"_ Angie sang.

I almost snickered at Alice's song choice, internally gloating as my mother's sobs picked up pace beside me. Alice really knew how to pack a punch when needed.

I felt Renee's hand fumbling for mine and I allowed it, for who knew when I'd ever see her again? For once my mother's emotions seemed sincere. Her auburn curls hung limply around her splotched face. Her hazel eyes were rimmed with redness and shining with tears that spilled over her cheeks.

Carlisle told me that Renee was reported to the state by Alice's physician for child abandonment and neglect. Alice's death would seal the deal, so to speak, kicking Renee while she was down. She'd go to prison, maybe not for long, but long enough. I was certain she'd also lose her nursing license sometime in the near future. The nursing board was strict; they'd never allow someone with her impending record to care for patients again. She'd have to start somewhere fresh, just as I would. Would she have her boyfriend, Phil, waiting for her release? I doubted it. He didn't even have the decency to sit by her side at her own daughter's funeral. Why would he wait for her to be released from prison?

_"Lord make me a rainbow. I'll shine down on my mother. She'll know I'm safe with you when she stands under my colors. Oh, and life ain't always what you think it's going to be. Ain't even gray when she buries her baby,"_ Angie sang.

The song eventually died away, just as my sister's life had in the terrible fire at the Birchwood Medical Center.

Any inkling of remorse I held, the tears that sprang forward, the heartache that clenched in my chest, was for the others who perished in that fire. Carlisle assured me over and over that they were just casualties of war, patients who had no chance at a real life, but that didn't ease the stinging guilt that infiltrated my mind during the long nights. Edward's warm body and the sexual distraction he provided worked most of the time, but the nagging guilt would be something I'd hold on to for years to come.

Tears flooded my eyes at the thoughts of those who'd perished, and at how completely devastated their families must have been. I pressed the tissue to my eyes as the eulogy was presented by our pastor. The spoken words, the prayers, and the humility surrounding me, faded into nothing as I became lost in my own thoughts and noticed movement from the corner of my eye.

A young woman slunk into the room, attempting and failing to fade into the far wall as she ducked into an empty space near the last pew. The girl was beautiful from what I could tell. Long ebony hair spilled from beneath the black, lacy veil covering her face. The only color peeking out from beneath the veil were the full, blood-red lips that curled into a small smile as she noticed my curious gaze. The dress she wore was modest with black lace edging, and a sexy, yet almost childlike appearance on her small frame. Lacy black gloves traveled up her arms, dancing across her pale skin, and ending above her elbows. I frowned at the audacity of the girl, who was obviously begging for attention.

Turning my attention back to the front of the room, I caught the tail-end of the eulogy. Angie sang one last song, the words whispered and raspy from her throat, sore from sobbing. I focused my attention on the closed casket, the one thing my mother and I had agreed on in regards to the funeral service. The body was too damaged, too broken from the suffering that had been inflicted on it, to be seen by anyone.

The service finally ended and we all stood, my hand firmly clasped in Edward's, as my uncles and male cousins acted as pallbearers, toting the casket through the open door. Sunlight spilled into the room from outdoors, the sound of happy birds and a nearby lawn mower filling the somber room. The doors quietly closed behind Emmett, and after one last prayer the funeral came to an end.

I rode with the Cullens to the gravesite. Carlisle's slick, black Cadillac tore through the dirt roads, coating the glossy dark paint in a fine sheen of dust. I spotted my sister's casket in the distance, past the rolling green hills and gray headstones, hovering over the fresh, open grave beneath a green canopy. White, wooden folding chairs were lined in front of the casket, filled with family.

I joined them, my hands full of the Gerbera daisies Carlisle had thoughtfully stopped and allowed me to purchase at the local flower shop. I allowed my mother to, once more, clasp my hand in hers. The minister gave one last short speech, consoling the friends and family of little Alice Swan, and I finally allowed myself to break down. I felt it all, the pain, the sorrow, the agonizing terror of a life without my sister, who would no longer be by my side.

Concerned murmurings surrounded me. I felt my Aunt Maggie's arms embrace me as she submitted herself long enough to comfort me. She shoved her hatred for the Cullens aside long enough to remember I was still the same Bella she watched grow up over the years.

There was one last, long, sorrowful prayer from the minister before a machine slowly dropped my sister's casket into the ground. People stood, taking turns dropping a single white rose into the open grave. Alice's friends and classmates sobbed and took turns hugging my limp body.

People departed away from the grave, chatting quietly amongst themselves, some even breaking into quiet laughter in a vain attempt to cut through the seriousness of the situation. I remained seated, numbly staring at my sister's grave until I was physically shaken by Edward and forced from the cemetery. I stumbled across the soft grass, weaving through rows of headstones from the eighteen-hundreds, as we drifted to Carlisle's Cadillac.

"Let me stay just a little while longer," I pleaded, my face feeling tight and pinched from the dried, salty tears. "I'm not ready to leave yet. Please just give me a little while longer."

Edward, Carlisle, Esme, and Rose exchanged dubious stares. Edward raked his hand through his hair, gazing at people who slowly made their way through the headstones to the parking lot.

"I don't feel comfortable just leaving you here, Bella," Edward confessed. "What if Aro..."

"Can you wait, then?" I interrupted. "For just a few minutes? I just need a minute, okay?"

Edward hesitantly nodded, pressed a light kiss to my forehead, and leaned against the car as the others slid inside. I felt his eyes follow me the entire length

of the cemetery.

The sun sank in the distance, coating the earth in pinks and purples, two of Alice's favorite colors. A concrete bench sat a few paces from my father and sister's graves. I wandered over to it, relieved to sit beneath the limbs and leaves of the weeping willow which draped overhead like a dismal cloud. I sat on the worn surface of the bench. It was the very same bench my grandmother purchased shortly after my father's death.

Time slipped by. The birdsong faded away and was replaced with the song of crickets and the croaking of frogs. The sun sank lower in the horizon and still I sat, waiting with Alice's flowers.

Then she came, quiet as a ghost, drifting over the softly rolling hills. She was nothing but a drifting black figure, a silhouette against the fading purple sky painted behind her. The black veil encased her face in darkness, synthetic black hair spilling past her shoulders, and the bloody red lips twisted into a smile.

Instead of approaching me, she paused by the fresh grave, peering down at it curiously. The red Mississippi clay lay in a soft mound over the grave, partly hiding the headstone with my sister's name etched stoically across the surface.

"You have a lot a nerve, you know?" I grumbled, tentatively walking across the dewy grass. "Showing up at you own damn funeral."

"I wouldn't have missed it for the world," the supposed dead girl mused, turning and giving me a wicked grin from beneath the shadows of her veil. "It was great, huh? Are those flowers for me?"

"Oh, yeah. It was a blast," I growled, ignoring her question as I tossed the daisies on the fresh grave. "The most fuck-awesome funeral I've ever been to."

My sister snorted and turned back to the grave, the smile slipping from her face.

"I hate that he's buried next to Daddy," she whispered, her tone taking a serious note.

"I do too," I sighed wearily. "We had to do something with his body. I'm trying to convince myself that it's a fitting place for him to be. Daddy would be pissed, but James? Ha! He was furious when Carlisle told him where he planned on dumping his dead body."

"He told him?" Alice asked in surprise, a mischievous grin curling on her face.

"Yup. When he wouldn't give him the info he needed, Carlisle told him he was gonna kill him and bury him in the Swan family plot," I snickered. "I wasn't there, but I heard that James shit his pants. Literally."

Alice laughed, a whimsical sound that tugged at my chest. I'd miss that sound.

"When are you leaving?" I asked, swallowing the lump that formed in my throat.

"Today, tonight, now," she shrugged. "We're headed west."

"What will you do?" I inquired, glancing down the hill and noticing the second black Cadillac sitting near Carlisle's. Jasper was propped up against the side, casually conversing with Edward as they peered up the hill at us.

"What will I do?" she repeated in a breathy whisper. "Anything, everything, nothing. Who knows? It doesn't really matter. As long as I'm with him, everything will work out fine."

"I'll miss you," I admitted, tears forming in my eyes.

"Oh, Sissy. You'll see me again soon," she whispered, gripping my hands in her tiny ones as she pulled me in for a tight hug. "I'll be back before you know it."

"Wh...when?" I asked, my eyebrows knotting in confusion.

"When the storm comes, silly," she giggled, releasing me.

Alice reached behind her neck, unclasping her favorite necklace, and removing it from where it rested, safely tucked beneath the front of her dress. She grasped my open hand, slowly depositing the necklace against my cool flesh. I stared down at the necklace and antique key that she'd found in Nana's safe.

"The storm? The storm already came," I laughed, a dry bitter sound as I thought of the past few months, the things we'd all weathered together since meeting the Cullens.

"No, the storm hasn't come, Sissy," she told me patiently, closing my hand around the necklace.

"It's not here, but it's coming soon. I'll be back when it arrives."

"What happens when the storm arrives?" I asked, confounded by Alice's confusing musings and ramblings, something I'd undoubtedly never get used to. "How will I know when it arrives?"

Alice held my stare for a long moment before glancing down the hill where Jasper stood watching her like a hawk. She turned to me one last time.

"You'll know, Bella," she told me, her voice chillingly cold and detached as her barely visible eyes darkened. "When it comes, you'll make a decision. A decision to kill. You're the one who has to do it, Bella. You have to kill Aro."

* * *

Lemme see. AliCat0623, my beta, my sista, my friend. You are awesome. I flove you. I'd elaborate more, but it's almost 12am and I'm not very verbose this time of night.

Super duper excited to announce not one, but two collaborations in the works.

LayAtHomeMom and I are teaming up to give you 'FabulousLay.' I kid you not. Put us on alert. Basically it will be 90% smut, 5% humor, and 5% plot. It should be epic.

Also, Jonesn and I are teaming up for a collaboration and will be known as 'JonesnInDaHood.' Put us on alert too! And if you're not reading 'In Mates' by Jonesn...you should. Talk about panty melting. *drool*

Contests: Dirty Talkin' Edward Contest in the works (yes, I'll be entering). Author search same name.

Also, there is the Dark and Twisted Contest (author search same name). No details on either contest, but go ahead and put them on alert, homies. I'm super excited about both of them!

Question: Do _you_ have a funeral playlist?

Reviews = lurve


	27. Chapter 27: Familiar Stranger

_Previously, in Chapter Twenty-Six..._

_"What happens when the storm arrives?" I asked, confounded by Alice's confusing musings and ramblings, something I'd undoubtedly never get used to. "How will I know when it arrives?"_

_Alice held my stare for a long moment before glancing down the hill where Jasper stood watching her like a hawk. She turned to me one last time._

_"You'll know, Bella," she told me, her voice chilling, cold and detached as her barely visible eyes darkened. "When it comes, you'll make a decision. A decision to kill. You're the one who has to do it, Bella. You have to kill Aro."_

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Seven: Familiar Stranger**

_~There is nothing subliminal about my messages~_

_Jhood_

**EPOV**

I'd always heard that you don't _really_ know a person until you live with them. I never understood that saying until Bella Swan moved in.

"Bella," I whispered, leaning over and pulling the bed sheet away from her sleeping body. "Wake up, Sugar."

The previous night was a hot one. Bella and I fell asleep with our arms and legs tangled around one another, the heat from our bodies magnified by the heat of the night. Sometime during the early morning hours Bella removed her shirt, yanking it from her sweaty, sticky skin, and tossed it on the floor. She lay there practically naked, on her stomach, her pert little tits hidden from my view, wearing nothing but a pair of black panties that she called 'boy shorts.' They did look a little like shorts; fucking _tiny _shorts with her delicious ass cheeks peeking out.

Bella's chocolate-colored hair spilled all around her in thick tangles, hiding her face. Gathering her hair, I moved it over her left shoulder, studying her peaceful face. I ran my fingers from the base of her neck and down her spine, watching in awed fascination as her bare skin instantly erupted in goosebumps. Bella let out a low, sultry moan, burying her face against the mattress, the sound muffled by pillows and soft sheets. My fingertips lingered at the waistband of her panties, which I gently began tugging down the moment she started wiggling her ass and rubbing her thighs together.

Then, like she had the previous four days, her body became stiff. She whipped over on her back, hiding herself with the bed sheet, tucking it tightly around her tits. Her sleepy brown eyes darted to my face. She stared at me nervously as she began to stutter.

"I...I still don't feel very well, Edward," she groaned, pressing her hand dramatically to her temple, closing her eyes briefly.

"You haven't felt well for a while now," I snapped, irritated by the way she constantly turned me down. "I've had blue balls for the past four days."

Bella's eyes widened, then narrowed into angry little slits, glaring into mine. My dick slowly became limp as she bored holes into my face with her laser beam eyes.

"Is that all I am to you?" she growled. "A piece of ass? If I don't put out you turn into a whiny little brat?"

"No!" I argued, my dick completely limp from her accusation. "Fuck, no! I just...have I done something _wrong_? Are you not attracted to me anymore?"

Damn, those words tasted bitter coming out of my mouth. I was a confident guy, never worrying about my looks or personality. I could give a shit if anyone found any redeeming qualities in me, except for her. She was all that mattered in my life anymore, and I couldn't help but question myself. Had I done something to turn her away from me? Bella hadn't once complained about how I treated her in bed, but we'd gone from having sex daily to not having sex the past four days.

The anger slipped from Bella's face and was immediately replaced with remorse. Her dark eyes welled with tears, and I felt my chest tighten. I hated seeing her cry, hated it more than anything, and I'd fucking caused it.

"Oh, Edward," she sniffed, running the back of her hand across her cheeks, gathering the tears that eventually spilled over. "You think it's your fault I feel bad? I honestly don't feel well, Edward. It's nothing you've done, I swear. Please don't blame yourself. Of course I'm attracted to you."

"Thank God," I whispered, flooded with relief. "I don't want you to leave me, Sugar."

Bella let out a sob then flung herself at me, the action so bizarre it caught me off guard. She attacked my mouth, sucking my bottom lip between her teeth as she straddled me. I cupped the sides of her face, giving as much as I took. I broke away from her mouth as she threw her head back, and I latched onto the delicate skin of her neck. She began to grind herself against me, making me swell once more. I could feel her hot little center through the thin confines of our underwear.

Then, just as she'd done time and time again those past few days, her body became rigid as though she realized what she was doing and instantly regretted it. Bella pushed herself away from me, stumbled from the bed, and tossed a lame apology over her shoulder. She disappeared into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

"Screw that," I growled, stalking across the bedroom.

I grasped the bathroom door knob firmly in my hand, twisting and turning it in both directions, but the door was locked. Banging on the door, I hollered her name, demanding she let me in or I'd break the door down.

"Edward, I'm sick," I heard her mumble.

Then it hit me like a bucket of freezing cold water.

"Bella, are you pregnant?"

"No!" I heard her squeal. "No, I'm not pregnant! I just don't feel well. Please go away, Edward. Leave me a little shred of dignity and go away."

I banged my head angrily on the door, ignoring the mutual relief and disappointment swirling around in my chest. There was no way we were ready for a kid, especially not as young as we were or with the mess we were in, but I knew it would happen one day. One day when we were out on our own, hopefully after I graduated from college and had a good, steady job, we'd have children. There was no doubt in my mind about that, unless Bella changed her mind about us.

I stomped downstairs, fighting the confusion, irritation, and fucking _sadness_ I felt. Esme was standing in the kitchen, rolling out biscuit dough on the floured countertop. She gave me a sweet smile, which quickly fell when she noticed my troubled face. I plopped down at the bar, avoiding her eyes, and stared morosely at the dough as she began cutting through it with a shiny silver biscuit cutter.

"Edward, what's wrong, sweetheart?" she questioned, gazing curiously at the expression on my face before turning back to her work.

"Bella's acting strange," I grumbled, rubbing my hands briskly over my face. "Her mood swings are giving me whiplash. I don't know what's wrong with her."

Esme said nothing at first. She quickly immersed herself in her work, pursing her lips thoughtfully as she gently placed each biscuit onto an old cookie sheet. I studied her carefully, noticing the way she avoided my eyes, the way she pretended to lose herself in her menial task of preparing breakfast.

"You know what's wrong with her, don't you?" I asked suspiciously, my question silently confirmed as she looked up and gazed solemnly into my eyes.

"Oh, sweetie. It's nothing you've done. She's probably a little embarrassed to tell you," her voice trailed off.

"Bella doesn't get easily embarrassed," I argued. "We're always honest with each other."

"Jesus, Edward," a voice snapped to my right. "Are you seriously that clueless?"

I swiveled around on the bar stool, glaring as Rose sauntered into the room. She grabbed an apple from the basket of fruit sitting on the bar. After shining it on her shirt and plopping down beside me, she took a small bite. Rose's eyes twinkled humorously as she smiled sardonically at me.

"Maybe everything is just now hitting her. The funeral, the feud," she suggested.

"You know good and damn well she's not upset about that blasted funeral," I grumbled. "No, there's something else wrong."

"Let me guess. You said she's having mood swings. I bet one minute she wants you, the next minute she doesn't. She makes excuses not to have sex. She's tired and grumpy all the time. She's having headaches and generally doesn't feel well. Does any of this ring a bell?" Rose inquired with one raised eyebrow as she listed all Bella's symptoms.

"Yes! That's exactly how she's acting," I groaned. "She's driving me crazy, not letting me touch her."

"She's on her _cycle_, you heartless bastard," Rose huffed, her cheeks growing red in agitation.

_Cycle? What the hell is a _cycle_?_

"Her period, dipshit!" Rose snapped, thumping me on my forehead with a glossy red fingernail.

Realization washed over me and I suddenly felt like shit. I rubbed the spot where Rose thumped me, my face pinching in pain and guilt.

"Yeah, I'm glad to see that look of remorse on your face," Rose sighed, turning her nose up as she looked away from me. "The poor girl is probably on an emotional rollercoaster with all the drama that's happened the past several days. The hospital catching on fire, the funeral, then getting her cycle. You've probably been harassing her for sex, using that as a distraction from the shitstorm that's been brewing. You're her first boyfriend and she's embarrassed to talk about her period with you. You've probably made her feel very uncomfortable. I'm honestly ashamed of you, Edward."

"Hey," I said, throwing my hands up in defense. "How am I supposed to know she's on her period unless she tells me? You and Esme haven't ever talked about that...period stuff in front of me. When the two of you act bitchy I just ignore you. This is all uncharted territory for me."

"You better get used to it if you plan on spending the rest of your lives together," Esme advised, shoving the biscuits into the oven and forgetting to set the timer. "Life together won't always be sunshine and rainbows, my dear boy. You'll fuss, fight, and carry on from time to time."

Rose slid from the bar stool and set the timer for Esme, who gave Rose a bashful grin. Rose then dug around the fridge, tossing me a bottle of water that I caught in mid-air.

"I know everything won't always be perfect," I groaned, unscrewing the bottle top and taking a long pull of the cold liquid. "She refuses to talk about Alice being gone, even though I know it's bothering her. Not only that, we've already had an argument over her going back to classes next week."

"Now that is one thing I agree with you on," Esme muttered, grabbing a wet dishrag and sopping up the wasted flour from the countertop. "I'm not comfortable with her going back to Mayhaw High. Not with her uncles and Billy Black lurking around. What if they hurt her? I'd never be able to live with myself! She should transfer to Birchwood and finish high school here."

"Bella is stubborn," I sighed. "She wants to graduate with her class. I told her I was putting my foot down on the subject, but she just won't listen to me. She can't get it through her thick skull how dangerous it is for her to be in Birchwood, especially now that our relationship is out in the open."

"You can't blame her, Edward," Rose mused, tossing her apple core into the trashcan, and pulling herself on the bar stool beside me once more. "It's where she's from, it's where her family lives, not just the ones against her, but the ones standing beside her."

"No one from her family is standing beside her," I argued, glaring into Rose's sympathetic blue eyes.

"Now that's where you're wrong," I heard Carlisle's amused voice drawl.

The three of us turned and stared into the living room where Carlisle stood next to a large window peering outside. There was a burgundy mug of steaming coffee resting in his hand that he took careful, slow sips from.

"I'd say that's Mr. Emmett Swan sitting in our driveway right now," Carlisle continued, an amused smile twisting on his face. "He's not out of the truck yet. No, he's nervous, sitting in the Cullen driveway. He's debating on whether or not showing up here unannounced was a mistake, but ultimately he'll step down from that big 'ole truck. He cares about his cousin. I saw the look on his face at the hospital and at the funeral home.

He's worried about her."

"I'll go invite him in," Rose spoke softly, slipping from the bar stool.

"Like hell you will," I growled, lightly grasping her arm. "What if Aro sent him here?"

"He's different," Rose insisted, pulling her arm stubbornly from my hand.

"Emmett's not like the rest of the Swan men. He helped me the night Royce attacked me. I haven't spoken to him, not once, since that night. I think the truth is long overdue, don't you?"

Rose strolled across the room with her head held high. I glanced at Carlisle expecting some sort of reaction, but was shocked to find that instead of stopping her he continued to gaze through the window, quietly sipping his coffee.

"Aren't you gonna stop her?" I demanded. "Aren't you gonna follow her?"

"Nah," he shrugged, glancing away from the window to give me a crooked grin. "I think you can handle that on your own. I'm going to sit with my beautiful wife and have a lovely meal that she, hopefully, hasn't burned."

"Jerk," I heard my aunt sneer, but I paid her little attention.

I followed Rose to the front door, squinting at the bright sunlight that flooded inside the house once she pulled it open. We both stepped onto the porch, greeted by the early morning heat, the sound and smell of river water churning somewhere nearby, and the white, web-like dandelion seeds floating lazily through the sunbeams streaming through the tall trees looming overhead.

Emmett Swan's truck stood nearby, large and fierce. He didn't wait long before sliding out of the vehicle. His typically monstrous frame seemed small and non-threatening next to the truck. He slammed the door behind him, approaching the house cautiously, his eyes darting between mine and Rose's.

Rose stood by my side, wringing her hands together. The normally stoic, sometimes sarcastic, expression she held was gone, replaced with an almost tender, yet nervous one. Emmett was unsure of her honest, timid smile and the way her eyes darted across his face. If I didn't know any better, I'd think she was possibly _attracted_ to the big goon, but that couldn't be right.

Emmett's pace halted at the foot of the porch steps. His arms were crossed in a defensive stance when he finally spoke.

"I'm here to speak to Bella," he spoke in a firm voice, with little room for argument.

"Bella's not feeling well," I replied.

Emmett's eyes narrowed on mine, glowering at me in disbelief.

"I don't believe you," he spat. "Have you done something to her? Is she dead too?"

I took a step forward, my fists clenched tightly together, enraged by his insinuation, but Rose tugged on my shirt and gave me a pleading glance.

"Bella is fine," Rose assured him, taking a step down the porch steps.

I reached out to pull her back, but she shrugged my hand easily away from her arm, quickening her steps as she approached Emmett.

"Bella honestly isn't feeling well," she explained, stopping just inches from where he stood. "Before I came downstairs for breakfast I peeked my head in her room. She'd just taken a shower and fell back asleep. I can wake her up if you want."

"No, that's okay. I'll just come back later," he grunted, running his fingers through his hair. "I'm glad to see you're doing alright, by the way. I wanted to tell you at Alice's funeral, but I didn't think it was the best time, with everyone's tempers running high and all."

"Thanks," Rose said in an unnaturally soft tone. "Stay a little while? Bella should be awake soon. We can sit on the porch and talk. Give me a chance to explain what happened the night y'all found me on the bridge. I owe you an explanation."

Emmett stood hesitantly in the driveway for a moment before he eventually caved. He followed Rose up the porch steps, trying not to check out her ass as he did so, but failing. I gave him the stink eye when he saw that I noticed his gaze on my pseudo cousin's ass. The big lug had the audacity to shoot me a sheepish grin and shrugged, as though saying, '_Hey, I couldn't help myself.'_

I continued to fume over Emmett's insinuation that I would hurt Bella, but I shoved the anger aside. I did it for Rose. I did it for Bella, knowing she wanted nothing more than for everyone to somehow work together, playing with the shitty hand of cards life had dealt us.

The three of us gathered around the table, sitting stiffly in the white, wicker chairs. There was a long silence, only interrupted occasionally by the chirp of a bird or the splash of a fish hitting the water. Then Rose began to speak, mapping out the events of the night Emmett, Bella, Kate, and Alice found her on the side of the road. She explained everything, included every tiny detail of that night. Then she told Emmett about Aro and Billy Black's conversation I overheard at the hospital, how they had Royce shoot Alice up with enough heroin to put her in a coma.

"Your cousin, Makenna, overheard a conversation between the Swan men before Alice died," I confessed, carefully watching his reaction to my words. "Your father, her father, hell, _all_ the Swan men...they helped murder Charlie Swan. They had James kill Bella's father."

"You're a dirty liar," he whispered, his face turning a brilliant shade of red beneath his tan. "My father would never be involved in his own brother's murder."

Saying nothing in response, I leaned back in the wicker chair, raising an eyebrow and gazing condescendingly at Emmett, who was obviously in a deep state of denial. He leaned back as well, meeting my gaze evenly as Rose glanced between the two of us.

"It's all true, Em," a weary voice yawned, causing me to jump from my chair.

Bella stood leaning in the doorway, wearing one of my white t-shirts and a gray pair of shorts. She shot me an apologetic smile, and I gave her a small smirk in response. Pushing herself from the doorway she crossed the porch, her small, bare feet padding lightly against the rich wooden boards. I kept my hands to myself, unsure if I'd be able to handle her rejection again without jumping off the damn deep end. Relief flooded my body once her arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me against her. I ran my fingers through her long hair, pulling the tangles from the unruly mess as I gave her a light kiss on the forehead.

"Okay, I don't think I'll ever get used to _that_," I heard Emmett grumble.

Bella let out a snort and a laugh at her cousin's admission.

"You better get used to it, Em," she snickered. "That is, if you want to continue visiting your favorite cousin from time to time, cause Edward's not going anywhere."

Emmett muttered something below his breath, but I didn't catch his words. I sat back in the wicker chair, pulling Bella down onto my lap. She snuggled against me, her head resting perfectly in the bend of my neck, so perfect in fact, I believed it purposeful, as though some great deity designed the two of us specifically for one another. Maybe it was the work of Zeus, or some other bullshit god Bella babbled about in her sleep.

"How are you holding up, Bells?" Emmett inquired quietly.

"I'm doing okay, Em," Bella murmured, twisting her fingers through mine. "I mean, considering..."

"Yeah," he muttered.

"I really miss my sister," she spoke in a soft whisper.

"Yeah. I do too," he agreed, his voice uncharacteristically weak.

The air became stiff and slightly uncomfortable as we all, undoubtedly, thought of Alice. I wondered if Bella would break down and try to convince Emmett that Alice's death was a hoax, but she surprised me by dropping the subject.

"So Rose set you straight?" Bella finally asked, breaking the silence. "She explained what happened the night we found her on the bridge? I just caught the tail end of your conversation."

"Yeah, she filled me in," Emmett assured her, glancing up at Rose for a moment. "I, uh, just wanted to check in on you. We haven't heard from you as much as we'd like, Bells. Nana's been worried. She really misses you, and Alice. Are you coming back to school soon? Are you quitting the cake shop?"

"I'll be back in school next week," Bella replied, ignoring my intense stare as I gazed down at her. "I'll continue working at the shop after school."

"Maybe that's not a good idea," Emmett spoke, shocking me enough that my head snapped up.

"Just hear me out," he continued, throwing his hands up when he noticed Bella's angry stare. "If Aro and Billy are behind Alice's overdose, what makes you think that you're not next? You can't go back to Mayhaw! You'd be safer here with _Edward_."

Emmett spoke my name like it was a curse. I couldn't help the snicker that escaped my mouth. Emmett glowered at me as I shot him a smug, lazy grin. The bastard admitting I could care for Bella better than anyone was nothing short of perfect.

"I dunno, Em," she hedged. "I don't know anyone from Birchwood, other than Edward, Rose, and Garrett. Rose drives to and from MSU every week, so I only see her on the weekends. I think I'd just feel so lost going to high school here."

"What about the GED program?" Emmett asked, causing me to cringe.

I knew exactly how she'd take this question; the same way she reacted when I asked her the exact same thing.

"I'm not a quitter," she growled. "I'm not quitting high school because of Aro! I'm not a freaking statistic!"

"Who cares if you get your GED or have a high school diploma?" Rose asked, trying to sway her. "They're basically the same thing. No college is going to turn you down just because you have a GED. It's not quitting, it's being reasonable and making a smart decision. I'm in agreement with Emmett. It's much safer to stay here with Edward, Carlisle, and Esme than running around Mayhaw. Just think about it, Bella. We haven't known each other long, but I care about you. Truly. And Esme thinks of you as the daughter she's never had. She'd be devastated if anything happened to you."

"The hottie with the banging body is right," Emmett grinned, causing Bella to giggle and Rose to blush. "Beautiful and smart. Nice."

"I've missed you, Em," Bella laughed, shaking her head in amusement.

"That's the old Em I know and love coming out! We really should all go out and do something together sometime. I'm getting stir crazy sitting in this big old house."

"How about a double date?"

_Who the fuck said that? Me? Did those words really just leave my mouth?_

"Shit, I'm sorry," I grumbled, shaking my head. "I don't know what the hell I was thinking."

Actually, I did. We needed Emmett on our side. I was the bastard who was using Rose's obvious crush on the guy to my advantage.

"Sounds okay to me," Rose whispered, sounding frustratingly shy and unsure of herself as she peeked over at Emmett.

"Are you serious?" Em questioned, staring at Rose, giving her a shit-eating grin. "You're not just messing with me, are you?"

"Uh, no," Rose said, stumbling over the two words. "Unless you don't _want_ to go out sometime."

"How about tomorrow night? We can grab something to eat and then catch a movie. You girls can pick out whatever you want," he suggested excitedly.

"Sounds great!" Rose agreed with a smile.

"I feel like I'm in an episode of the Twilight Zone," I complained, rubbing my temples in frustration. "Nothing good ever comes out of us Cullens and Swans mixing together."

Rose laughed, a loud belly laugh, as her shyness ebbed away. She tossed her hair back, not even aware of the way Emmett stared at her in fascination.

"It's a good thing I'm not a Cullen then," she smirked.

_Yeah. I'd heard __**that**__ before._

~DSDW~

I left the house late that night, later than I normally left to make a delivery.

I wove down the dirty, dusty roads, wondering why I chose to have my car painted black. Thin, red dust coated the surface of the shiny paint, and I sighed, grumbling to myself at the thought of hand washing my car. Again.

Just on the outskirts of town sat an old trailer, hidden beneath the pines and oaks, tucked out of view. The front lawn was nothing but overgrown grass, weeds, and broken down vehicles rusting away. The underpinning of the trailer was non-existent. Old coonhounds and bird dogs lounged beneath the trailer, where the concrete blocks holding the mobile home were visible. The surface of the trailer was covered in tiny dents, a result of a hailstorm sometime during the past thirty years the occupant lived there.

I parked the car under a shady tree and made my way across the thick grass. I was ignored by the dogs who were trained to alert the owner of the home of a stranger's appearance. Those dogs grew used to me over the past few years, sometimes even greeting me with wagging tails and sloppy wet tongues, but I guessed it was too hot that day to do much greeting.

I climbed the rickety wooden steps and banged on the door, holding my delivery beneath one arm. The man answered quickly, well aware of how prompt I tended to be.

"Edward," he greeted, a bright smile on his worn face. "Come on in, my boy."

I nodded my head in response, slipping past him into the trailer. The inside of the mobile home was vastly different than the outside. The air smelled of a mixture of incense and weed, two things Ryan burned on a daily basis.

The carpet and furniture were clean, the countertops and surfaces spotless, the result of a man who rarely ventured outside the confines of the mobile home. He'd practically turned into a hermit over the years, since his vision started deteriorating and the multiple falls he'd had in public places, caused by weakening limbs. At that very moment he leaned on a walker.

I swallowed the knot that formed in my throat, comprehending how much he'd gone down, healthwise, since the last time I lay eyes on him. Multiple sclerosis was a nasty bitch. I dropped his package on the coffee table, running my fingers through my hair.

"You've already paid Carlisle?" I asked, although I already knew the answer.

"The first of every month, like clockwork," he stated, gesturing towards the couch. "Won't you take pity on an old man who lives alone? Rest your legs for a while and tell me what's going on in the outside world. Carlisle says you gotta gal now."

"Carlisle talks too much," I complained, but did so with a smile as I dropped onto the couch, leaning back in the deep cushions. "I hurt her feelings this morning. Not on purpose or anything."

"Oh, how you gonna make it up to her?" Ryan asked, shuffling to the recliner nearby, easing carefully down and setting his walker aside.

"I dunno. We're going on a date tomorrow night, our first real date," I grinned.

"You should give her something," Ryan suggested, his dark eyes sparkling as he reached beneath the coffee table and removed a glass pipe. "Women love gifts."

"Bella's not the type to be bought," I scoffed.

"No, you shouldn't buy her something extravagant," Ryan chided, packing his pipe with weed and lighting it up. "You should give her something from the heart."

I thought about his words, watching the dark man carefully as he chiefed away at the pipe. His stiffened muscles visibly relaxed as he blew the smoke in the air and gestured to me with the pipe.

"Naw, man. I've got plenty at home," I dismissed. "Besides, you need that shit more than I do."

"You and Carlisle, y'all are saints," he mused, putting away the pipe as he finished. "If you only knew how much this helps me with the pain."

"I do know," I corrected, pushing myself from the couch as my father's face flashed through my mind.

I stood and stretched, glancing down at my watch and noting the time.

"I need to get home to my girl," I admitted, shaking my head in mock annoyance at his knowing grin. "I'll see you soon enough. Same place, same time."

"Think about what I said," he called as I opened the door and stepped onto the broken porch. "Something from the heart!"

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered, throwing a small wave over my shoulder as I pulled the door behind me.

Ryan's advice remained fresh on my mind as I drove through Birchwood, his words playing over and over in my head as I thought back over the past few months. Hell, the only thing I'd given Bella, besides myself, was a box of fucking MoonPies.

My hands gripped the steering wheel, my knuckles turning white as I thought of everything Bella lost because of me and my family. She lost her father, her mother, her sister. She would, in all probability, no longer attend the same school, no longer spend time with the same people she grew up with her entire life. She moved out of her home to live with me and a group of virtual strangers, and I'd given her nothing in return. Nothing.

"I'm going to fix this," I decided, knowing exactly what I'd give Bella Swan to prove my love to her.

* * *

Thank you, AliCat0623, for bailing out of jail long enough to beta for me! I lurve you!

If you ask a question and are a guest reviewer, I am unable to answer your questions. I won't leave answers in an AN because some people, myself included, don't enjoy knowing what's about to happen in a story beforehand. So, if you have a question, please login to ff and PM me or hit me up on FB so I don't spoil things for others.

Thanks to all of you who read, rec, and review this story. Your unwavering support means the world to me.

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**A note from AliCat0623: Being in jail was more fun than beta'ing this chapter.**


	28. Chapter 28: First Dates Part I

_Previously, in Chapter Twenty-Seven..._

_My hands gripped the steering wheel, my knuckles turning white as I thought of everything Bella lost because of me and my family. She lost her father, her mother, her sister. She would, in all probability, no longer attend the same school, no longer spend time with the same people she grew up with her entire life. She moved out of her home to live with me and a group of virtual strangers, and I'd given her nothing in return. Nothing._

_"I'm going to fix this," I decided, knowing exactly what I'd give Bella Swan to prove my love to her._

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: First Dates and Second Chances**

**Part I**

_All discarded lovers should be given a second chance_

_but with someone else._

_~Mae West~_

"I have nothing to wear," Rose moaned.

She threw herself dramatically across her bed. The silky lavender comforter was hidden beneath mounds and mounds of multi-colored fabric. I stared at the mountain of clothes incredulously, tugging on a long strand of hair.

"Rose, how do you have nothing to wear?" I asked, rolling my eyes and digging through the mound. "There's more clothes on this bed than in Jessica Biel's closet!"

"Yeah, but I look so fat in them," she whispered, covering her face with her hands.

My plundering through the clothes halted at her words. I glanced down at her, my chest swelling with pity.

"Rose, what size are you?" I hesitantly asked, hoping I wasn't making a mistake by asking something so personal.

"Fourteen," she whispered.

Rose dropped her hands from her face and sat up, tucking her long legs beneath her. She nibbled on her bottom lip, stubbornly avoiding my face as she picked at her manicure.

"Rose, Em likes you," I said, pulling her hands apart and taking them in my own. "I can see that he really likes you, and that's rare. Don't get me wrong, Em's a great guy, but he's got his flaws just like the rest of us. Normally he's a hit-it-and-quit-it kinda guy, but I can always tell when he's being genuine and when he looks at you...wow. It's like he's seeing the moon for the first time."

"Really?" she asked in a tiny voice, glancing up at me with uncertainty.

"Really," I assure her, squeezing her hands. "I could see it the first time he looked at you, standing on that bridge. It was like everything else just faded away. I'm so happy the two of you get a second chance."

"Besides," I muse with a smile, "a size fourteen is considered skinny by Mississippi standards. He's probably gonna try to convince you to put bacon and extra mayo on your burger tonight."

I gave her a wide grin and she laughed, warming my heart. It was hard to imagine someone like Rose, having low self-esteem. She was beautiful, and not only because of her physical attributes. Rose was beautiful where it counted the most. She was beautiful on the inside.

"Royce was always hounding me about my weight," she confessed, meeting my narrowed eyes. "He was always saying 'you'd be so pretty if you'd just lose a little weight.' I hate it when people say things like that."

"Royce is a piece of shit," I muttered, dropping her hands to dig in the never-ending pile of clothes. "When he shows his face again, I swear to God I'm gonna kick his ass."

"I think he's dead, Bella," Rose confessed. "He's such a mama's boy. I just don't see him disappearing without contacting his mother. I still call her sometimes. She has diabetes and is in and out of the hospital a lot. She says she hasn't heard from him, and I believe her. She sounds so sad when she talks about him. Mrs. King has always been very nice to me."

"I wish Alice would have told me what happened that night," I grumbled as Rose silently studied me. "She could have at least explained things before she ran off with Jasper. Why won't they call? Why won't they answer the phone?"

"I don't know," Rose mumbled, toying with her nails once more. "Jasper texted me last night. Everything's fine. There's nothing to worry about."

"That's good," I sigh in relief. "I just wish Alice would answer her damn phone. I need some answers. I guess I'll have to wait until she returns, whenever that may be. I'm sure it'll be when I least expect her. Alice has always had a flare for the dramatics."

Rose remained quiet as I spoke, her eyes studying me from time to time. I found a cute top, black and off the shoulders, then found a pair of dark wash jeans that I tossed her way. She slipped into the bathroom and reappeared wearing her new ensemble.

"Okay, hot mama," I joked, wagging my eyebrows as she twirled around. "Emmett's gonna have a hard time keeping his hands off you. Maybe you should change. I don't wanna lose my appetite watching my cousin paw at you."

"I barely know him," she laughed, rolling her eyes. "So no worries about that. It takes more than a burger and a movie for Rosalie Hale to put out."

"Thank God," I sighed. "It's gonna be hard enough ignoring Kate and Garrett while they go at it."

"I'm glad you invited them," Rose said sweetly, gazing at herself in the mirror as she slowly applied her lipstick. "I'd like to get to know Kate a little better."

I kept my thoughts to myself, watching as Rose applied her makeup and a pair of big, silver hoop earrings. At one point Rose reminded me of Kate, with her up-front attitude, but I'd slowly come to realize the two girls had little else in common. I hadn't, in fact, even invited Kate and Garrett on our double date. Kate invited herself once after I told her about it.

Once Rose finished applying her makeup she followed me into Edward's room to help me get dressed. The way she fussed and carried on with my makeup and hair reminded me of my sister. The memory was wistful and bittersweet, bringing overwhelming sadness with it as well. Rose detected the shift in the atmosphere, but said nothing, choosing to focus on applying just the perfect amount of mascara to my eyelashes. She'd just finished shoving the little wand back into the bottle when we heard the the rumbling of a truck in the distance, growing louder and louder.

"It's him," she groaned, standing and smoothing the invisible wrinkles from her jeans and shirt. "Are you sure I look alright? What if he changes his mind? Do you think Esme is going to take pictures. Oh, my God! What if Esme takes pictures?"

With that she darted from the room, a nervous mess, in search of Esme in hopes that no photography was involved that evening.

I made my way downstairs, spotting Edward standing in the living room chatting and laughing with Garrett and Kate. Emmett stood to the side of the group, looking awkward and slightly uncomfortable, but doing his best to cover it up. Carlisle sat on the buttery-brown leather recliner nearby, his eyes taking in the odd situation in front of him. He appeared amused by the gathering of Swans and Cullens alike, but Carlisle was odd that way, finding humor in the strange situation we found ourselves in.

Edward looked delicious. There was no other way to describe him. He hadn't shaved in three days, leaving his jaw scruffy and scratchy, just the way I liked it. The bronze strands of hair on his head were in their usual state of disarray, sloppy and disheveled. He wore a new pair on dark jeans and a royal blue button-up shirt, which was considered 'dressy' by Edward standards. His laughing eyes left the group as I decended the stairs, almost as though he felt my presence somewhere close by. His gaze trailed from the ankle boots I wore, up my dark wash skinny jeans, and across my sleeveless black top before finally finding my face. His Adam's apple bobbed and I smiled because I did that to him, I had that effect on him.

I'd never been so happy for my period to end in my life.

"I'm taking pictures, damnit," I heard Esme hiss, and I couldn't help but giggle.

"I have to agree," Carlisle mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he smiled at the group. "This should go down in history. The joining of the Cullens and Swans. If there isn't photographical evidence no one will ever believe it."

Everyone laughed and murmured in agreement, but I said nothing, only able to focus on Edward. He pulled me into his arms, dropping a sweet kiss on my lips.

"I feel like I haven't seen you all day," I complained, allowing him to pull me into his arms. "Where were you all morning?"

"Taking care of some business," he said vaguely, causing me to frown. "Doesn't matter. I'm here now, right?"

I nodded, distracted by Garrett who had a cheap, heart-shaped box of chocolates tucked under his arm and a decorative candle in his hands. Kate stood nearby ignoring him as she chatted with Rose, who kept shoving the camera Esme held out of her face.

"Garrett doesn't have a clue how to charm a girl, does he?" Edward purred, nudging my ear with his nose.

"And you do?" I breathed, hyper-aware of how hard he was, pressing into the softness of my belly.

"I guess you'll find out later," he whispered, tugging my earlobe into his mouth.

My body tingled at his teasing. I poked him with my elbow and he groaned, my face heating up as Carlisle shot me a knowing grin. Rose eventually allowed Esme to snap a million photographs, the six of us posing in front of the fireplace, first in couples then in a group, reminding me of prom night, something I would never get to experience.

I'd made the decision to quit school and get my GED.

I hadn't told Edward, but I would before the night was over. He was right, after all. I was safer in Birchwood, safely tucked away in the woods by the river, away from my uncles, but there were new worries. I worried about Kate, whose relationship with Garrett was out in the open. I worried about Emmett, who wasn't technically on a date with a Cullen, but with a girl who was considered one just the same.

I confessed my fears to Edward as well pulled out of the drive, the two other vehicles trailing closely behind.

"They'll be fine," Edward reassured me. "Aro and your uncles have nothing against the others. It's you they're after. They think you have evidence on them. They're not so worried about the others. Kate and Emmett have so much to lose if they ever decided to flip on their family. Their fathers will go to prison, that's for sure, and possibly their mothers as well, if they had anything to do with the coverup."

"We need to get into their offices," I mused. "Makenna thinks there may be some evidence there...maybe there's something linking them to Charlie and Edward Sr.'s death."

We were silent the rest of the drive. Edward laced his fingers in mine as I stared at the buildings whirling past, the red brick and grey concrete smearing into a fuzzy haze as my vision failed to focus, my thoughts a million miles away.

Edward left the small town of Birchwood behind, hitting an access road that ran along the river for a ways before pulling into a large parking lot full of white slag. A large restaurant was situated to our left and a long wooden pier stood in the distance, jutting out over the murky river. Twinkle lights were strung through the rails, the gleam dancing over the rippling water below.

There were other young couples ducking inside the restaurant, their eyes studying Edward's car curiously before disappearing inside. My stomach began to wind up in knots. The uncomfortable realization hit me. Edward and I would not only be dining together, but dining in _public_ together, in his hometown, around people he undoubtedly knew.

"What's wrong, Sugar?" he asked, squeezing my hand as he studied my eyes and my stiff posture.

"Nothing. Just nervous, I guess," I shrugged. "We've only been in public at the hospital and the funeral home. This is...different. It just hit me how I really know nothing about your past, or anything about your friends, other than Garrett and Jasper. There's not any jealous girlfriends or anything I need to worry about, right?"

Edward laughed, rolled his eyes, and said, "No, Sugar. You're the only girlfriend I've ever had."

"But you've went out with other girls before," I prodded. "Carlisle once said you brought other girls home..."

Edward gazed at me warily for a moment before he replied.

"Yeah, Sugar, but those girls meant nothing to me. It's _you_ I love. It's not like you to be so insecure."

"I'm not insecure," I huffed, glaring as he laughed. "I'm not!"

"Whatever you say," he smiled, giving my hand one last squeeze. "Don't you dare open that door before I do. This is a date after all."

I shot him a grin that he easily returned, watching as he eased from the car and made his way around to the passenger side. Edward opened the door for me, like a true gentleman, and slipped his arm through mine.

"This is weird," Kate muttered, popping a piece of chocolate in her mouth, ignoring Garrett as he stared at her slack-jawed with parted lips. "Maybe I shoulda brought my gun, just in case."

"You've really got a gun, baby?" Garrett groaned, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. "You're not just bullshittin'?"

"Yeah, and if you're lucky you'll never have to see me use it," she advised.

"That's so hot," he growled, grabbing my cousin and spinning her into his arms.

Kate yelped, swatting at his hands as she struggled to break free of his embrace, but she was no match for Garrett as he pressed his lips against hers.

"Are they always like this?" Em laughed, nervously running his fingers through his hair as he constantly snuck glances at Rose.

"Yes," I groaned. "Always."

Garrett and Kate refrained from sucking face long enough to follow the rest of us to the front of the restaurant. Em held the door for the group, knotting his brow when Edward pulled me aside.

"We're gonna check out the pier first," he told Em.

Em nodded, disappearing inside with the others as Edward slipped his arm around my waist. We walked slowly across the parking lot, the slag undoubtedly ruining the heels of my ankle boots. I cringed as I imaged the jagged rocks cutting into the faux leather, sighing in relief when our feet hit the wooden pier.

Edward led me to the end of the pier and paused, his fingers grazing the skin beneath the hem of my shirt, sending chills over my body. He tilted his head back and I followed his gaze, my eyes widening at the snowy luminescent moon suspended against a black sea, nothing but sparkling stars keeping it company.

Edward leaned on the wooden rail, his face drawn in concern. Something weighed upon his mind, but I didn't push him to speak, only lightly running my hand over his back as he quietly gathered his thoughts.

"You've lost so much by being with me," he suddenly spoke, his voice tinged with sadness. "Your family is in turmoil, your sister..."

"Edward," I interrupted, shocked and slightly disturbed by his words. "I've gained everything by being with you. I've never felt so loved in my entire life. My life, our lives, they were ticking time bombs ready to explode. Turmoil was inevitable. I don't blame you for the chaos in my life. The feud between our families has nothing to do with you, it has nothing to do with me."

"Besides," I continued, "for the first time in my life I finally feel _alive_."

"What do you mean?" he murmured, turning to face me, cupping my cheeks in his hands.

"I was dead before," I breathed. "I walked around living and breathing, but never truly existing. I was always waiting on something, but I was never sure what it was. Now I know."

"What was it?" he asked, searching my eyes.

"It was you, silly," I laughed, pulling his hands from my face to drape them around my neck. "I was waiting for you. Now I've found you and I have no intentions of letting you go."

Edward rested his forehead against mine, staring down into my eyes. The water churned below us, splashing against the wooden pier, the rumbling of a gunning engine roared in the distance, echoing off the solemn river, but I heard nothing. I heard nothing but mine and Edward's heavy breaths as we stood on that wooden pier. It was a pier not so different from the one we'd met at months before, a pier where two people from two feuding families lay beside one another, falling in love under the moon...

"I have a confession to make," Edward whispered, breaking me from my thoughts.

"Oh, God," I groaned, my heart picking up speed. "This isn't the part where you tell me you cheated on me, is it?"

Edward snorted, then scowled, as I effectively ruined the mood. He stepped back, untucking his shirt from the waist of his jeans. I watched him with widened eyes and he popped the buttons on his fly, pulling the zipper down as well.

"Uh, Edward," I whispered, my eyes darting to the semi-crowded parking lot behind us. "I'm not sure it's the right place or the right time..."

"Bella, please be quiet," he laughed.

Edward tugged the waist of his jeans down while simontaniously raising his shirt. I stared at the lean muscles of his abdomen, rippling just beneath the surface of his skin, but it wasn't his toned body that captured my attention. It was the bandage that he slowly removed. Before I could ask what happened Edward had the bandage peeled back, revealing a fresh tattoo.

Lilies. Pristine and white, the base flushed with yellow, the stems the same color of his eyes. The ribbon wrapped around the stems fluttered over his hip, so realistic I imagined I could wind the silky strand around my finger. The ribbon looped into an elegant shape...the scroll of a letter.

The letter 'B.'

"I wanted to do something special for you," he explained, carefully watching my shocked expression. "I didn't want to buy you something. I wanted to do something different, something to prove my love to you."

"Edward," I whispered, swallowing the lump in my throat. "You didn't have to prove your love. You put off college for me, you've...killed for me."

"And I'd do it again in a heartbeat," he murmured.

Reaching out I grazed my fingertips over his tattoo. The skin was raised, red, and slightly swollen.

"It's not like my tattoo," I murmured. "The petals aren't broken..."

"No," he replied, pressing the bandage back in place. "There's nothing broken when it comes to us, Sugar."

* * *

Part two 'hopefully' tomorrow.

All mistakes, including overuse of commas and run-on sentences belong to me. Ali has gone from being a jailbird to hanging out with a bunch of hippies in the woods beating drums and stuff. It's too much for my poor country heart to comprehend. She offered to beta, but I didn't want to interrupt her very odd 'vacation.'

I lurve you all!

review = lurve


	29. Chapter 29: First Dates Part II

_Previously, in Chapter 28..._

_Reaching out, I grazed my fingertips over his tattoo. The skin was raised, red, and slightly swollen._

_"It's not like my tattoo," I murmured. "The petals aren't broken..."_

_"No," he replied, pressing the bandage back in place. "There's nothing broken when it comes to us, Sugar."_

* * *

SHANTIE WARNING: HOPEFULLY THIS CHAPTER WILL LEAVE Y'ALL SOAKED. IF YOU LIKE IT, THANKS. IF YOU DON'T, BLAME JONESN. SHE MADE ME DO IT. TOO MUCH DIRTY TALKING EDWARD COLLAB WITH JONESN MAKES ME A VERY NAUGHTY GIRL. THE CHAPTER IN GENERAL IS DEDICATED TO HER AND ALI, MY BETA WHO INSISTENTLY TOLD ME I COULD GET OVER MY WRITER'S BLOCK.

* * *

Chapter 29: First Dates and Second Chances

Part II

**BPOV**

The waterfront restaurant was nothing fancy, although it was possibly the best restaurant in the small town of Birchwood. Cheap paneling covered the walls. The fading beige linoleum floors were wavey from age and humidity, full of pockmarks from dropped trays, and scuffed with imperfections. The smell of fried shrimp and grilled steaks filled the warm summer air.

Edward and I spotted the others sitting at a table in the far corner of the room. He pulled me beside him, one arm wrapped around my waist, as we crossed the room.

People openly gaped. It wasn't just my imagination. I felt their eyes boring into me like ants tunnelling through the ground. I watched them from the corner of my eye: old men, young men, teenage girls. They all stared and whispered as we crossed the room together.

"This is so weird," I muttered.

Edward wrinkled his forehead then glanced around the room. He tightened his grip around my waist as he pulled a chair from beneath the table.

"Ignore them," he said, gesturing to the chair. "This is the most excitement this town has seen in a decade."

I slid into the chair, gazing through the large floor-to-ceiling windows behind me. A solitary barge drifted through the black waters, the flickering lights reflecting off the surface of the river. Rose's voice drew my attention away from the dirty river.

A short, dumpy waitress stood nearby ready to take our drink orders.

"Do y'all already know what you're gonna eat or do y'all need a little time?" the woman asked in a bored tone, obviously unaware or uncaring of who we were.

"I'll just have a salad," Rose muttered dejectedly, folding her menu and dropping it on the table.

Emmett stared at her for a long moment before shaking his head and addressing our waitress.

"I'd like a ten-ounce ribeye for the lady. Medium-rare," Emmett told the waitress, ignoring Rose's objections. "With butter and sour cream on her baked potato, please. I'll take the T-bone steak, medium-well and an order of fries."

"Emmett!" Rose huffed. "I'm perfectly capable of ordering my own food."

"You really want a salad?" Emmett asked, raising an eyebrow. "You want to eat rabbit food on our first date?"

"Well, no..." Rose hedged.

"I'll have a dressed double cheeseburger with fries," Kate spoke up, interrupting Rose and Emmett's debate. "Don't go easy on the mayo either. Oh, and bring some cheese sticks while we wait."

"Damn, baby," Garrett crooned, sliding his seat closer to my cousin. "Where do you put it all? Wait...nevermind. I see where you put it all."

Garrett's eyebrows were wagging up and down as he stared at Kate's chest. The table erupted in chuckles and giggles as Kate flogged him with her empty heart-shaped box of chocolates.

"Hey! Don't break that box," Garrett protested, covering his head as Kate continued to pound him with the shiny red box. "Don't you want to keep that as a souvenir of our date? I thought girls collect shit like that."

"Collect it for what? To remind me of what an idiot I am for dating you?" she huffed, tossing the crumbled box on the table.

Marci, the waitress, stared at us as though we'd lost our damned minds before she slipped away.

The playfulness of those surrounding me was a happy reprieve from the drama that plagued my life on what seemed to be a daily basis. Nevertheless, there was a somber undertone lingering just below the surface. It was boiling beneath Rose's snickers and Emmett's loud guffaws, threatening to creep out between the cracks of Garrett's whispered suggestions to Kate, who constantly rolled her eyes at his cheesy advances. It was the sad undertone of kids who were pretending; kids pretending to be happy and free, although feeling anything but.

Alice and Jasper's absence were lingering ghosts whispering through the stifling summer air. I wanted nothing more than to tell my family that Alice was alive and well, somewhere west with Jasper, living it up being young and free, not tied down by dreary last names that meant nothing...that meant so much, yet so little.

Instead I remained silent, choosing to plaster a fake smile on my face, a smile that Edward undeniably saw through. It was because of him that I remained quiet, because of a conversation after the fire in the hospital, a conversation in which he asked me to remain quiet about Alice. It was for the best, he'd said. He never explained why it was for the best, although I assumed it was because a Southerner keeping a secret was about as likely as a catching rain in a thimble.

There was an eventual stillness in the air, a shift in the conversation. Garrett was whispering softly into Kate's ear as she smiled a rare, pleasant smile. Rose struggled not to fidget in her seat as she snuck occasional glances at her date. Edward had his arm slung around the back of the booth, meticulously running his long fingers up and down the bare flesh of my arm. Emmett was shredding a napkin into long, thin strips, staring thoughtfully at his fingers performing their idle task.

"I talked to Makenna about what y'all told me," Emmett quietly admitted, glancing up to meet each of our eyes after peering around for any possible eavesdroppers. "She told me she was working at Aro's office when she overheard Aro, Felix, Alec...and my father talking about working with Liam and James Cullen all these years. She told me they killed Uncle Charlie. She thinks there may be some information in Aro's office that could help put him away.

"I want y'all to know that I'm in. Call me a traitor against my father. I don't give a shit. I've always said, done, and believed everything they've told me, but that ends now. They told me the Cullen family was the enemy, but they've been working with two Cullens all these years. Alice...Alice was like a sister to me. How could they? How could our own flesh and blood do something like that? They hired someone to _murder _her."

My mouth doggedly parted open on its own free will, ready to share the truth of Alice's existence with my cousin, but Edward's fingers digging into my arm made me give pause. I closed my mouth, avoiding Edward's occasional gaze.

I hated seeing Emmett choked up, blinking back the uncharacteristic fragility that gathered in his eyes in the form of tears. He mumbled something unintelligible below his breath before shoving the chair back and walking away. His hulking frame disappeared around the side of a lattice divider that split the restaurant into two big rooms.

"He's probably going to the men's room," I told Rose, whose worried gaze lingered somewhere across the crowded restaurant.

Rose gave me an absent nod, her gaze breaking away from Emmett's long gone frame to stare dejectedly down at the table.

"Why don't you go check on Em?" I whispered to Edward.

"Uh, no," Edward scoffed, raising an eyebrow at my suggestion. "Guys don't hang out in the men's room bonding and shit."

I sighed, shoving my chair away from the booth.

"I'll go wait for him outside the restroom," I said. "He's probably embarrassed for getting emotional. It's not like Em to break down like that."

"I'll go with you," Kate offered, swatting Garrett's floundering hands away from her with a scowl.

I felt Edward's eyes on me the entire time we crossed the room, up until we disappeared around the same divider Em did.

"Poor Em," Kate grumbled. "Letting his vag hang out on the first date. We might as well call him Britney Spears the way he keeps flashing his twat for everyone to see. I'm gonna tell him to wear some underwear and a longer skirt the next time he takes Rose out, _if_ there's a next time."

"Give him a break," I scolded, just as we arrived near the men and women's room doors. "Not everyone is as hard-hearted as you are."

"I'm not hard-hearted," Kate sniffed, tilting her head back stubbornly. "I bottle that shit up. Save my tears for the pillow. He needs to act like a man. Nut up or shut up. Rub some dirt in his wounds."

"You're a bitch," I sighed.

"Yeah," she shrugged.

I shook my head in disappointed amusement, pursing my lips and glancing around the room, meeting a set of dark eyes belonging to a guy around my age. He carefully studied me, his lips tugging into a half-smile before he whispered something to a blonde guy sitting beside him. The blonde turned and openly stared, his eyes roaming my body before landing on Kate's. I raised an eyebrow and gave my best bitch face at the two before turning back to Kate, who was unaware of the short, silent exchange.

"I wonder if Em's feeling up to talking about getting into Aro's office?" Kate mused. "We need to get in, get the info, and get out. Makenna's Switzerland. She's neutral territory. Maybe...maybe she can snag the office keys! They'll never suspect her. She's so fucking high all the time..."

Kate's voice suddenly trailed off. Her eyes fixated on something a short distance away. The guys, the two who'd eyed us seconds earlier, were approaching us from only a few feet away.

"Ladies," the blonde greeted, shooting Kate a grin.

"Hi," Kate spoke in a bland, bored voice.

"How are y'all doing tonight?" the dark-eyed guy asked, addressing me as his eyes flitted across his face.

"Good," I answered hesitantly, not wanting to be rude to the stranger, a stranger who was possibly friends with my boyfriend.

"You look like you're doing good," he replied suggestively, licking his lips. "I'm Bryce and this is Kayden."

"We don't care," Kate muttered.

"Don't be like that, Beautiful," the blonde murmured, edging closer to Kate.

"We just want to know your names," the dark-eyed boy insisted, creeping uncomfortably closer to me as well.

"This is 'None of Your Fucking Business,'" a voice piped up.

Garrett stood beside us, his lanky frame towering over Kate's lithe one. He jerked his thumb in her direction as he introduced his girlfriend to the two, suddenly intimidated guys.

"And this is her cousin," another voice spoke up. "She goes by 'Bella,' I call her 'Sugar,' but to you she's 'Get the Fuck Out of Here Before I Break Both of Your Legs.'"

A thrill shot through me as a pair of warm hands cupped each side of my waist. I felt him pressing against my back. His body radiated heated rage. Fury rolled off him in hot, torrid waves. The two guys immediately backed off, their eyes wide, stumbling over their own two feet.

"Edward...Garrett," the dark-eyed boy stuttered. "We didn't know..."

"Now you know," Edward growled, his fingers digging into my waist. "If we see you talking to our girls again we'll fuck you up."

"Possessive ass," I grumbled, tingling as his fingers dug even firmer into my flesh.

"You're damn right I'm a possessive ass," he whispered, his hot breath tickling my ear. "Got a problem with that?"

"No," I breathed, melting, freaking melting under the dominating edge to his voice.

"Too bad," he murmured, pressing his hard cock into the small of my back. "Putting up a challenge might have been fun."

"Why don't you just throw her on a table and screw her in front of everyone?" Kate snapped, crossing her arms and visibly shuddering. "Or piss on her leg? You too, you dipshit. Mark your territory, why don't you?"

"You want me to piss on you, Baby?" Garrett asked, his eyebrows shooting up on his forehead. "I thought the handcuffs last night was kinky, but golden showers...that's a little too..."

"Shut up, you dumbass," Kate hissed, elbowing him and jerking her head in the direction of the men's room. "Go check on Em. He's been in there too long. Maybe he fell in and drowned."

"Fine," Garrett grumbled, ducking into the men's room.

He returned only seconds later, his eyebrows knotted in confusion.

"He's not in there," he shrugged. "There's no one in there."

"Go check outside," Edward told him, his mouth still close enough to my ear to send shivers through my body when he spoke. "I'll make sure the girls make it back to the table."

We returned to the table to find it covered in our food orders. A worried looking Rose sat alone, drumming her long nails on the chipped surface of the water-stained tabletop.

"Long story," I explained, waving my hand dismissively as I slid into my chair.

She nodded, glancing across the room and perking up a bit. I looked up in time to watch as Garrett and Emmett returned to the table. Emmett looked a bit less morose, but I honestly couldn't pay much attention.

Edward's hand was resting on my thigh, slowly creeping to the apex between my legs.

"Are you?" he hedged, and I immediately knew what he was asking.

"I'm good," I whispered, my cheeks burning as the past few uncomfortable days flashed through my mind.

"Thank God," he mumbled, releasing a deep breath.

I tore at my food, my stomach in nervous, excited knots as Edward casually ate his meal, his hand never abandoning my thigh. His fingers inched closer to my pussy throughout the meal, making me squirm miserably as he tortured me by depriving me from where I needed him to touch me the most.

He tormented me in other ways as well, whispering things such as 'are you wet for me, Sugar?' and 'I want to taste you so bad, Darlin'. I want to bury my face between your legs and lick you from front to back.' Halfway through the meal I was a nervous wreck, horny as hell, and desperate for the friction only he could give me.

I overheard Emmett and Garrett discussing breaking into Aro's office with Edward, who held casual conversation with them throughout the meal, as though he weren't sitting beside me setting my wet panties on fire as his fingers slowly worked their way to the inseam of my jeans. I parted my legs beneath the table as he worked his way closer, biting my lip to smother the moan threatening to escape my mouth when he finally slid his hand between my legs. He pressed his middle finger lightly against the inseam of my jeans, stroking gently over my throbbing clit, which swelled greedily beneath the worn denim.

"Does that sound okay, Bella?" Kate asked, quirking an eyebrow as she watched me squirm in my seat. "Are you alright? You look a little pale."

"I'm fantastic," I practically yelped, shoving Edward's hand away below the table as everyone stared at me in concern. "What were we talking about again?"

"Getting Makenna to make copies of the keys," Kate replied, watching me carefully.

"Em says she's working at the office tomorrow. I'll ask her to get copies made of all the keys. Then we'll figure out a good time to break in."

"Sounds good," I responded, light-headed and miserable. "Are we finished here? Are we still going to the movies? I'm feeling kinda tired."

"Hell no, you're not backing out on us," Kate argued, frowning. "We're going to the drive-in at Oak Bluff. End of discussion."

"Oak Bluff?" I questioned, sucking in a breath as Edward's hand fell on my thigh again. "Is that really a good idea?"

"It's a perfect idea," Edward piped up, a wicked smile curling on his lips as his mossy green eyes twinkled dangerously at me. "Em, you think we can borrow your truck when we get there? Bella likes looking at the stars."

"Sure," Em easily agreed. "Y'all ready?"

"Oh, I'm ready alright," Edward replied, then dropped his voice low enough so only I could hear him. "I'm ready to show you what I've been missing these few days."

"What's that?" I murmured, knowing the answer but craving the words.

"Feeling that tight little pussy wrapped around this hard cock."

* * *

**EPOV**

I chuckled darkly at Bella's desperation as I drove Emmett's truck through the dark night. She slid beside me as I drove. I grasped the steering wheel firmly between my fingers as she cupped her little hand over my cock, whispering in my ear.

"I want you so bad, Cash," she teased, running her fingers lower, cupping my balls in her hands and shifting them around. "You drove me crazy at the restaurant. Now it's payback time."

"You're gonna make me wreck," I growled as the blood rushed to the head of my cock, swelling to the point of hurting.

It had been days since I'd been buried between Bella's legs, and I was bound and determined to end our dry spell that night.

"I want you to wreck," she whispered, stroking my cock over my jeans. "I want you to wreck my pussy."

"Fuck, Sugar," I groaned, shifting in my seat from the unfamiliar way she spoke to me.

"Is that what you want?" she whispered, burying her face in my neck, licking her way from the base to my jaw. "Do you want to wreck my pussy? I'm so horny, Baby. I don't know how much longer I can wait. My panties are so wet."

"Bella," I moaned, swerving slightly as I felt the pull and tug of her releasing the button on my jeans. "What are you doing, Sugar?"

"Gonna make you feel good," she purred as I lifted my ass from the leather seat, allowing her to tug down my jeans just past my hips.

"Shit," I growled, swerving again as she pulled my weeping cock from my boxers, slowly stroking it.

"I've missed this," she teased, flicking her hot tongue against my earlobe.

Then she ducked down, licking my cock from the base to the head before taking me in her mouth as far as she could.

I groaned as she began to suck, wrapping her hand around the base of my cock and pumping what she couldn't fit into her hot mouth. She moaned around me, the vibrations shooting thrills to the pit of my stomach. My hips began to thrust up, fucking her mouth as she sucked and stroked. Her teeth lightly skimmed across my sensitive skin and

I hissed, willing myself not to come in her mouth.

"Bella," I warned, grinding my teeth together as she sucked and bobbed. "There's about to be a very big problem if you don't stop."

She sucked harder, releasing my cock from her lips with a pop.

"I don't care," she whispered, gazing up at me with those big, sexy brown eyes. "Come in my mouth."

"Fucking shit," I groaned at her words, my stomach tensing as she took me in her mouth once more.

My vision grew hazy and I had trouble concentrating as she moaned and sucked, bobbing her head and teasing my cock with her tongue. I wove my fingers through her hair, pulling and tugging the strands at a steady rhythm with each thrust of my hips. I let out a strangled warning as the tense knot in my belly set afire, releasing in her mouth as she gasped and gagged around my cock.

"Are you okay, Sugar?" I asked, struggling to keep Emmett's truck on the road as we entered Oak Bluff.

"I'm fine," she smirked, helping me back into my jeans. "How about you?"

"Ready for round two," I answered honestly, shooting her a grin.

Bella hummed in response as we pulled onto a gravel road, passing a sign announcing the Oak Bluff Drive-In. I rolled down the window, dug in my wallet, and passed the kid at the gate a worn five-dollar bill. He gave me a grin, gesturing to pull up and telling me the station to turn the radio to. After some stealthy maneuvering, I was able to back into a spot with the bed of the truck facing the large movie screen, which was really just a huge, white billboard.

"We're gonna watch the movie in the back of the truck," I explained, shifting the truck into park. "I don't know how much of the movie we'll actually watch though."

"Oh, God," she moaned, the sound causing my cock to swell in my jeans once more.

"Be patient, Sugar," I murmured. "Open the back glass so we can hear the movie, or at least pretend we're listening to the movie.

She giggled and leaned into the back seat. I groaned at the sight of her ass so close to my face. Unable to help myself, I squeezed it between my hands, then gave it a good, hard smack.

"Fuck," she moaned, wiggling her ass against my hands. "Can anyone see us?"

I glanced through the darkened windows, gazing at the darkened muddy field we sat in full of ruts and potholes.

"I don't know, Sugar," I confessed. "The windows are tinted, but there's always that chance."

I smacked her ass again, harder the second time, grinning as she whimpered from the sting.

"Bella, you can't stay hanging halfway in the backseat all night," I chuckled.

She begrudgingly eased into the front seat, muttering below her breath the entire time. I laughed, opening the door and instructing her not to move until I opened hers for her as well.

Bella followed me to my car near the edge of the lot, watching as I pulled a blanket from the trunk of my car. I'd stashed it there earlier that morning, my mind full of images of the things I'd planned to do to my girl on the blanket that night.

I helped her into the back of the truck, spreading the blanket and leaning against the toolbox. I pulled her into my arms, between my legs, nudging my face in the crook of her neck as she softly sighed.

"This is nice," she murmured as the movie began to play.

"It is," I said, my voice drowned out by the crackling of the radio as the previews began to play.

My fingers crept below the edge of her shirt, seeking out my girl's soft flesh. Her breath hitched in her throat as my fingers skimmed over her belly, dipping just below the waistband of her jeans.

"Fucking tight ass jeans," I hissed, nipping her neck, sucking her skin between my teeth, marking her for everyone to see. "Teasing me all night with that round little ass. Driving me fucking crazy when those assholes hit on you at the restaurant."

"You acted like a possessive jerk," she whimpered as my fingers left her skin, releasing the button of her jeans and slowly tugging down the zipper.

"That's because I am a possessive jerk," I warned her, peeling her jeans down as she raised her hips, watching her chocolate eyes dart anxiously around the dark lot.

"What's wrong, Sugar?" I teased, biting the inside of my mouth as my fingers found the silky fabric of her panties. "Are you scared? Scared that someone will see me pleasing that pussy?"

"Edward," she groaned miserably.

I chuckled darkly, dipping my fingers inside her panties, finding her very wet. Her clit throbbed against my fingers as I toyed with it, rubbing it in light, lazy circles. She leaned back against me, raising her hips in time with each stroke of my fingers, moaning and whimpering as she bit her juicy bottom lip.

"Anyone could see us," I told her, snickering as she grew wetter with my words.

"Anyone could walk by on their way to get some popcorn from the concession stand. Maybe they are watching us through the back glass of their cars."

I cupped one tit with my free hand, finding her braless as usual, her nipple puckered. I rolled it between my fingers, pulling and tugging, grinding myself against her ass as she slowly bucked her hips against my fingers.

"Do you want me inside you, Bella?" I asked, chuckling as she whimpered and begged. "Do you want me to fuck you in this field where anyone can see us? In the back of Emmett's truck? Is that what you want?"

"Yes," she moaned, grabbing my hand and forcing it lower.

"No, Sugar," I firmly abashed her. "I'm not going to fuck you with my fingers. I'm going to pull your jeans off and you're going to ride my cock."

"Oh, God," she whimpered.

I eased her jeans down, then her wet panties, peeling them from her body. Her eyes continued to dart around the lot nervously. No one was around. Everyone was settled in their vehicles, absorbed in the movie playing in front of us.

"Come here, Sugar," I instructed, gesturing to my jeans. "Pull it out for me."

Bella nodded her head, fumbling with the fly and tugging the zipper down. I was hard and ready for her when she found my cock, releasing it from my boxers and stroking it in her hand.

She wanted it. She wanted me to fuck her in that parking lot full of people. I saw through the nervousness in her eyes. There was a gleam there. It was a gleam of excitement over the possibility of getting caught, and of the consequences of what would happen if someone were to find me buried deep in her pussy.

"Come on, Sugar," I told her, dipping my hand between her legs, running my fingers between her wet lips. "Get on this cock."

With her bottom lip between her teeth she slowly straddled me, grasping my cock in her hand and guiding it against her entrance. I moaned as she sunk down, my cock pushing through her slick, tight walls. She rotated her hips each time she sunk down, working her hot, wet body against mine as I trust up, grasping her ass in my hands and bringing her down harder each time.

"Pull your shirt up," I groaned, feeling her wetness seeping out, running down my skin in a hot trail.

She obediently tugged her shirt up, just over her little tits. I sucked one hard nipple greedily in my mouth, tugging it between my teeth and releasing it with a pop before moving to the other one.

"Rub you clit, Bella," I mumbled against her other tit, before sucking her nipple into my mouth.

She slid her hand between her legs, working her clit between her fingers, moaning and picking up speed, slapping her wet body against mine. My fingers dug into the soft skin on her ass as she bounced faster against me, tossing her head back and moaning as I flicked my tongue against one nipple, then the other.

A slight movement to my left caught my attention. A man wearing a navy mechanic's uniform stood several feet away, a box of popcorn in one hand, the handle to his old pickup truck in the other. His dark eyes trained in on my girl, watching as she eagerly rode my cock.

Instead of being pissed at his curious stare, I was fucking thrilled. Hot fire spread through my belly and down my thighs as the man watched the two of us fuck. I wanted to show him, prove to him how she was mine and mine alone, how only I knew how to please her.

"There's a man watching you, Bella," I whispered in her ear, cupping the back of her neck in my hand and bring her face to mine. "He's watching me wreck that pussy. Do you like that, Sugar? Do you like knowing someone is watching me wreck your pussy?"

"Yes," she moaned breathlessly as I grasped her cheeks harder, slamming her down against me more insistently.

"You want him to see you come?" I asked, fucking her even harder, pumping my cock into her pussy as fast as possible as the man continued to stare. "Do you want him to see your face when your pussy clamps down around me, gripping my cock? Do you think he can smell you across the lot? Do you think he can smell your sweet, wet pussy, Sugar?"

"Edward," she whimpered, grasping my hair between her fingers, arching back as she came over and over.

The man continued to watch us, but he'd placed his popcorn on the top of the truck. He adjusted himself in his pants, stroking himself slowly as he watched me fuck my girl. I shot the nosy stranger a smug grin before turning back to her, watching her little tits bouncing around as I thrust upward in desperation, the pit of my stomach winding up and ready to uncoil.

I dug my fingers into her skin, leaving angry, red handprints as I came, spewing inside her pussy. Wetness spilled out between our hot bodies, dripping down my cock.

Bella fell against me in exhaustion, or maybe sudden shyness. I chuckled, tugging her shirt down to hide her tits, then buried my face in her hair, breathing in her sweet scent.

"Don't be embarrassed, Sugar," I whispered, brushing her hair from her neck. "I can't blame him for wanting to watch you ride my cock. You're so fucking beautiful when you come, Sugar. You're so fucking beautiful all the time."

* * *

*runs and hides*

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	30. Chapter 30: Breakin' the Law

_Previously, in Chapter Twenty-Nine..._

"_Don't be embarrassed, Sugar," I whispered, brushing her hair from her neck. "I can't blame him for wanting to watch you ride my cock. You're so fucking beautiful when you come, Sugar. You're so fucking beautiful all the time."_

* * *

**Chapter Thirty: Breakin' the Law**

_Blood is thicker than water, _

_but money is thicker than blood._

~Boss Hogg, Dukes of Hazzard~

(The original, of course).

"What are you doing, sweetie?" Esme asked, sliding up beside me where I sat at the bar.

The smell of fried okra and corn bread wafted through the air, causing my belly to audibly growl. I shifted on the barstool in some sort of silly attempt to mask the sound of my stomach gurgling. If Esme heard the embarrassing sound she didn't let on. She casually flipped over the book that lay open in front of me, saving my place with her thumb as her eyes skimmed over the title of the thin book.

"It's for my GED classes," I sighed. "I could just take the test, but I want to make a high score, so I signed up for the classes three nights a week."

"That's great!" she grinned, flipping the book back open to the section I was reading. "I'm so proud of you, honey."

"Thanks," I told her, feeling a slight blush to my cheeks.

Esme wandered back over to the frying pan, tugging her apron strings tighter, and carefully moved the okra around in the sizzingling fat. She had a slight smile to her pretty face and hummed a soft tune as she diligently worked at not burning supper. A knot formed in my throat as I watched that woman, counting in my mind the number of times my own mother, hell anyone for that matter, told me they were proud of me. I could count the number on one hand, and suddenly felt a little sorry for myself as I sat on that barstool in that hot assed kitchen.

"Esme," I whispered, willing the tears that welled up in my eyes to back down. "Thank you."

"For what, sweetheart?" she questioned, looking up at me with her eyebrows drawn in confusion.

"For caring," I told her, wiping the tears away with the back of my hands. "For taking me in. For not letting my family name get in the way of how I feel about your nephew ..."

"Bella, you don't have to thank me for caring about you," Esme scolded.

She turned the okra off, thank God, before scooting around the bar to scoop me up in a big hug. I hugged her back, only slightly embarrassed about the sudden display of affection. I wasn't one for hugging anyone, other than Edward.

Esme released me before things became uncomfortable. The timer to the oven dinged and she giggled as she practically glided across the kitchen. She slid on a pair of oven mitts and pulled the corn bread from the oven. Steam rose from the golden bread and filled the space between us with the mouthwatering aroma. Esme then placed it on an empty stove eye just as Carlisle entered the room.

"Do I smell un-burned food?" Carlisle wondered aloud as he entered the kitchen.

I watched with a smile as he pulled Esme into his arms and kissed each cheek. She gave him a sheepish grin as he tucked a strand of caramel-colored hair behind one dainty ear.

"Bella's teaching me to cook," she confessed, garnering me a slightly surprised, wide-eyed gaze from Carlisle as he released her from his arms.

"Hey, I'm a good cook," I defended with a grin, closing the thin paper book after tucking my pencil between the pages. "Who do you think kept Alice alive all these years? It wasn't from her own cooking. She can decorate a cake, but she sure doesn't know how to bake one."

Carlisle and Esme exchanged a quick glance before he gave me a short, stiff smile that I didn't quite understand. Esme avoided my gaze altogether, choosing, instead, to gather the food and quietly murmur for Carlisle to do the same. The couple shuffled into the adjoining dining room, leaving me sitting at the bar alone and confused.

"You okay?" a voice asked, just as I grabbed a platter full of fried chicken.

Rose entered the room with a concerned smile on her face. She practically glowed as she stood beside me, grabbing a bowl of boiled potatoes. This was a new thing for her, the glowing, that is. She and Em were practically inseparable since that first date several days before.

"Yeah, I mean, I guess," I responded with a sigh and a frown as she followed me to the dining room. "It's just … everytime I mention Alice everyone gets this weird look on their faces."

"Don't worry about it," Rose told me, dropping her voice as we entered the dining room. "We just don't want you to worry about things that are out of your control."

"I know. I know she's okay with Jasper," I murmured, shaking my head at my ridiculous behavior as Rose carefully side-eyed me. "I guess old habits are hard to break … like being a worrywart when it comes to my sister."

Rose didn't respond. Instead she dropped the bowl of boiled new potatoes on the dining room table and avoided Carlisle and Esme's questioning eyes. The four of us gathered around the table, ready to dig in.

The space felt so foreign and out of sorts without Edward there. He left earlier that morning after dropping a kiss on my lips and leaving no explanation of his future whereabouts. I was getting somewhat used to it, but that didn't mean it still didn't drive me absolutely insane not knowing where he was. I refused to be 'that girl.' You know, the girlfriend who calls or texts five hundred times a day demanding her boyfriend's whereabouts.

That was so not me. I refused to subject Edward, or myself, to that level of clinginess.

Our bed felt so empty and cold that night. I stared up at the ceiling fan, watching as it made slow, lazy loops above my head and wondered if the occasional, lonesome night was something I would grow accustomed to.

I pulled the comforter up to my chin, tugging a strand of hair and wrapping it around my index finger as I thought of Edward. Turning on my side, I gazed through his window and stared at the huge, round moon glowing brightly through the pines. That was the last thing I saw as my eyelids eventually grew heavy and I drifted into an uneasy, restless sleep.

I awoke groggy and disoriented. Glancing around the room I noticed it was still dark outside. Warm, familiar arms wrapped themselves around me from behind as he curled himself against me, tucking his bare legs between mine. The soft hairs on his legs tickled against my skin as we lay flush against one another. A smile curled on my face as I felt his breath on my neck, washing over me as he peppered gentle kisses along my collarbone.

"You're back," I murmured, clearing my voice which came out low and throaty.

"I'm back," he replied, nibbling on my earlobe before sucking it between his teeth.

I hissed, arching my back involuntarily. I felt his erection press into my backside as I did so. He ground himself against me, our bodies only separated by our thin underwear.

I moaned as he lifted my leg and cupped my hot center in his hand. He found my clit through the thin cotton easily enough and began working one finger over it in slow, tormenting circles.

Things changed between us, sexually at least, since the night at the drive-in movies. The sex was more sensual, but somehow even better than before. It remained desperate and needy at times, almost as though we'd die without it.

We'd both experienced something different that night, different than anything I'd ever thought I'd enjoy, and it brought us closer together. It felt so good to do something so spontaneous and out of control. Before that night I felt like I was locked in a cage most of my life, acting and performing the role of Bella Swan; Alice's big sister and Renee's level-headed daughter. Edward made me compulsive, independent, and reckless that night, without the need of an alias name or identity.

He made me feel _alive_.

"What's making you so wet, baby?" he asked with a grin in his voice as he continued to circle my clit in excruciatingly light circles as I pressed myself firmly against his roaming fingers. "Is it just my touch? What are you thinking about?"

"That night at the drive-in," I confessed breathlessly.

"Mmm … what else?" he asked, tugging at my panties and pulling them down. He slid them from my legs and they disappeared somewhere in the darkness amid the twisted cotton sheets. "Anything else?"

"I don't like it when you leave," I continued, groaning when he teased my swollen clit between his index finger and thumb, giving it light little pinches. "I worry about you."

"Is that all?" he whispered, abandoning my clit to work two fingers deep inside me.

I moaned and began to pant as I desperately squirmed against his touch. The bastard was using his free arm to prop up on one elbow and enjoy the expressions crossing my face. There was a satisfied, amused grin pulling at his lips.

"Stop talking and just fuck me, Edward," I groaned, pivoting my hips for more friction.

"I don't think so," he tisked, removing his fingers to run them up and down my wet slit, from my clit back to my entrance.

I reached behind me, threading my fingers through his hair and tugging desperately at the strands, my silent way of askinghim to give me what I needed. When his fingers left my body and the mattress shifted beneath me, I knew I was about to get what I wanted.

Edward lifted my leg a bit more, lining himself at my entrance before slowly pushing himself in. I took in a sharp breath at the sudden pressure, throwing my head back and allowing him to give me a brutal, hungry kiss. Gentle, deep thrusts and wet, roaming kisses devoured me as I met him thrust for thrust.

Edward tossed the comforter from our bodies just as the early morning light filtered in. Then he twisted slightly, to where my body was mostly laying on top of him rather than on my side.

"Look," he demanded, tilting my head down for me so I had a good view of him as he entered me. "Help me make you come, Bella."

Thrills shot through me at his words. His thrusts became harder as the two of us watched my hand trail between my legs as my fingers found my swollen nub. My breathing increased as I began slowly circling my clit, my eyes never breaking away from the sight of his thick cock thrusting in and out of my body.

When I came I came violently, biting my bottom lip to the point of drawing blood. Edward pulled me fully on top of him at that point and I found myself with my back facing him as he thrust upward in rapid succession with the movement of my own hips. He came hard as well, digging his fingers in the soft flesh of my thighs and pulling me back flush against him, his cock still deep inside me. We fell asleep that way, wrapped in each others arms as the morning light danced on our bare flesh, savoring the feel of just being lost in one another's arms.

~DSDW~

It was a week later, but felt like a lifetime, when Makenna finally slipped us copies of the keys she had made to our Aro's construction business.

Emmett brought them by on a Friday, dropping them in Edward's hand so casually. Edward stared down at the keys and then glanced up at my cousin. My boyfriend's face was lit up with happiness. You would have thought Emmett had just handed him a million bucks or the keys to the kingdom.

What he handed him was worth so much more to Edward.

The plan was already set in motion.

We … Edward, Emmett, Kate, Garrett, Makenna, and I, had discussed it at length. Garrett and Emmett were to stash their cars in the woods, one near the exit to the off-ramp of the highway and one on the opposite end of the road where our family's construction business was located. At the off chance of any sign of our uncles, the boys were to call or text Edward's phone in warning.

Edward tried to convince me to stay behind, but that was so not happening. My father had been murdered as well, and I had as much right to search for the evidence as Edward had to search for information regarding his father's murder. He eventually caved, after lots of begging and persuading on my part.

One favor that Kate had called in from a friend and we were off.

We left the Cullen driveway in the dead of night in Kate's borrowed Eight Mile car. As soon as theold, bald tires hit the bridge that separated our two towns my stomach began to roll. I stared down over the railing, searching for the muddy waters, but my search was in vain. Even the brightness of the moon was snubbed out by the inky black night. All that lay beneath that old bridge was a blank void of nothingness. It gave me chills deep down to my very _bones._

Swan Construction wasn't just an office downtown. No, it was a warehouse in the middle no-fucking-where, surrounded by a chainlink fence with barbed wire roped across the top of it. We parked half a mile down the road, nudging the old car into an old off-road that adjoined the property. The road was practically grown over with thick weeds, and the branches hanging overhead provided a good canopy to hide under. Edward cut the engine and we were met with nothing but the stillness of the night.

Edward shot me a twisting grin before popping open the glove box and tossing a black ski mask my way. I rolled my eyes at his exuberance as the two of us pulled the masks on in sync. After that he called Garrett and then Emmett, confirming their location and our safety. He ended the call within seconds, shutting his phone, putting it on silent and slipping it in the back pocket of his jeans. We exchanged one breathless kiss before the two of us pulled on our gloves, and slipped quietly from the old car.

It was a little terrifying, leaving that car behind to trek through the woods, hand in hand. The idea of fleeing from Aro and my other uncles crossed my mind, and I wondered how easy it would be to escape their office and make it back to the car before being caught and possibly murdered. The very idea had me using my free hand to nervously curl my hair around my index finger to the point of pain.

Edward, on the other hand, was in his element. Beneath the black ski mask he wore were a set of mossy green eyes, sparkling with excitement and mischief. I wondered if that was how it was for him all the time, when he went out for the day for hours on end, doing whatever it was that he did to come home with a wad of cash. Did he thrive in the thrill of it all? Did he live for the moment, for the chase, for the chance of being caught?

My thoughts were interrupted by the sight of the warehouse looming ahead of us. The building was massive, made of blue and grey metal, and surrounded by the same, tall, chain-link fence I remembered from my previous visits. Just inside the fence,the large, ghastly machines sat scattered about the property in eery silence, as oppose to their normal clang and clamor.

We broke free from the woods and approached the property slowly, our hands dropping from one another. My skin suddenly felt clammy and alone without the comfort of Edward's clasped so tightly in mine, and I shivered at the feeling of loss. I wrapped my arms around my torso and peered curiously around the property, cringing at the sound of rocks crunching beneath my sneakers as our feet hit gravel.

A thick chain and a heavy lock hung ominously from the gate. Edward slipped the keys Makenna gave us from his pocket and slid one in, turning it this way and that, until a satisfying click sounded out, silencing the crickets and frogs that began their encore once we emerged from the woods.

Edward gave the gate a good push and it creaked open. He made a grand sweeping gesture with his hands, eyes still twinkling beneath the moonlight. I rolled my own eyes and shoved past him onto the property, listening carefully for the sound of guard dogs. There was none, however, and it really didn't surprise me. Aro and the good old boys were cocky. Their half-assed attempt at securing the premises was unsurprising. They'd gotten away with so many things over the years, why start worrying now?

Once we entered, Edward situated the chain and lock back in place, making it appear as though the lock had never been disturbed. A shiver ran through me, causing the hair on the back of my neck to stand on end. Although he didn't snap the lock into place I still felt confined; trapped. There was no means of escape, other than through that front gate. I began second guessing our plans, but Edward quickly eased my troubled mind.

"Garrett and Emmett are on opposite ends of the road," he reminded me as we quickly approached the warehouse. "If anyone comes down either end they'll call. My phone is on vibrate. Stop thinking so much about getting caught. Focus on finding the evidence, hard evidence, we need to prove once and for all that they murdered our fathers."

"It'd be easier if we just murdered them … or made them disappear, like Liam and James," I murmured.

"Liam and James didn't disappear," Edward argued, twisting a key into the lock on the door and grinning once the door stood wide open. "They're dead. I've told you time and time again, when bodies start piling up, people get suspicious. We're already four bodies in..."

"You didn't tell me anything about Liam," I whispered as we entered the warehouse, blinking once Edward shut the door behind us and turned on a dim flashlight. "You never explained James either. You just told me he was dead. It was him in the casket. Who's the fourth body?"

"Bella," he hissed, turning to me and giving me a stern look. His narrowed eyes, paired with the ski mask shrouding his face, gave him a particularly, menacing look that I was unfamiliar with. "I've told you over and over. Why can't you comprehend what's happened?"

"What?" I huffed. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Nothing," he grumbled. "I'll explain it later. There's no time for discussion. We have to find the filing cabinets, look for the evidence, and get the hell out of here."

I nodded, leading him through the warehouse to Uncle Aro's private office. I silently pointed to the door once we arrived, crossing my arms over my chest and tapping my foot impatiently as he tried key after key, pressing each one into the lock without luck. Finally, down to the last key, the door popped open. The two of us exchanged grins behind our masks before moving stealthily into the office, quietly closing the door behind us.

A long row of black metal filing cabinets rested against the far wall, beyond Aro's desk. The beam from the flashlight bounced from lock after lock on each cabinet.

"This is where things get … tricky," Edward whispered, pulling some sort of small tool with a red handle from his jeans.

"Tricky?" I mimicked. "What is tha … hey!"

Edward ignored me as he took the tool and snapped a lock in half.

"What?" he grumbled, pulling the lock from the cabinet and tossing it carelessly to the ground.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" I squeaked as he pulled the drawer out.

"Bella, your cousin couldn't get the filing cabinet keys. How did you think we were getting in?"

"They'll know we were here!" I gasped in paranoia, glancing over my shoulder at the open doorway.

"No, they'll know _someone_ was here," he corrected, pulling file after file from the drawer and tossing them on Aro's desk. "How about you stop talking and start helping?"

"Fine," I grumbled, snatching a few files of my own from the drawer.

Then I plopped my happy ass down in my uncle's, comfy leather chair and glanced over each file name. Edward had chosen the drawer with the 'C' files and I briefly wondered if he choose that for himself, Cullen, or for my father, Charlie.

There was no time to ponder, and I wasn't sure if I really wanted the answer to my inner question anyway. I thumbed through each file in vain, as did he, finding nothing about Charlie or Edward Senior.

"Fuck!" he hissed, stacking the files together and sliding them back in the drawer. "What now? Go through them all?"

"If we have to," I replied, standing and pulling open another drawer after he popped the lock.

The second drawer was the 'S' drawer. Again, we thumbed carefully through each file finding nothing but construction contracts and other legal forms that had nothing to do with either one of our fathers' deaths.

I let out a heavy sigh and lifted my eyes to meet Edward's. I wondered if my own looked as forlorn and despondent as his. I reached out, grasping his hand in my own and opened my mouth to give him some sort of words of comfort, but the words froze in my mouth at the sound of his cell vibrating in his pocket.

Edward jumped slightly at the unexpected interruption. He pulled himself together quickly enough, then slid the phone from his pocket.

"Go," he barked, shoving the phone in his pocket and pulling me to my feet. "Now!"

"What about the files?" I asked, stupidly gesturing to the mess of paperwork scattered about.

"Fuck the files. Aro just pulled off the highway. He'll be pulling up in ten minutes. Let's go," he rushed, practically shoving me from the room.

We fled the building into the darkness of night. The moon hanging overhead did wonders for lighting our path, and it was a good thing too, because somewhere between the gate and Aro's office, the flashlight fell, smashing open and spilling the batteries onto the ground. Edward never looked back, tugging me behind him by my shirt as we approached the gate.

He easily opened it and we darted through, ducking into the woods, leaving the gate wide open behind us. I don't know how he knew the path to the car, but he did.

I registered the sound of Aro's old truck speeding through the night, racing along with my heart as it chugged down the dusty, back road. We made it to the car just as headlights in the distance beamed through the branches and leaves. We both instinctively fell to the ground, landing on the bracken and soft earth.

"How did he ..." I began.

"I don't know," Edward replied, helping me up as the truck sped by without faltering. "We have to crank it up quick, and get the hell out of Dodge, before he parks."

Although we were both tittering on the edge of danger, Edward still opened the car door for me, but didn't wait for me to enter, choosing instead to practically shove me into the car. He quickly joined me and turned on the engine. Thankfully it turned over on the first attempt. He backed out onto the road so swiftly my head jerked, swinging around and stomping it, sending me screaming as we spun through the night with no headlights on, balling like the Dukes of Hazzard.

Little did we know we wouldn't make it very far … wouldn't make it very far at all.

* * *

Thanks to Jonesn for pre-reading and Sunflower Fran for beta'ing while Ali's camping (an excuse to drink Mead and smoke old people cigarettes).

Anyone confused by anything in this chapter? I hope so. Maybe all will be answered in time.

So, what's next? Will they get away? What do YOU think? ;)

Don't forget the Dirty Talkin' Edward contest that Jonesn and I are entering! Put it on alert!

Reviews = lurve/hate/whatever

I lurve you all!


	31. Chapter 31: I Fought the Law

_Previously, in Chapter Thirty..._

_Although we were both tittering on the edge of danger, Edward still opened the car door for me, but didn't wait for me to enter, choosing instead to practically shove me into the car. He quickly joined me and turned on the engine. Thankfully it turned over on the first attempt. He backed out onto the road so swiftly my head jerked, swinging around and stomping it, sending me screaming as we spun through the night with no headlights on, balling like the Dukes of Hazzard._

_Little did we know we wouldn't make it very far … wouldn't make it very far at all._

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-One: I Fought the Law **

_I left my baby and I feel so bad_

_I guess my race is run_

_Well, she's the best girl ... I've ever had_

_I Fought the Law and the ... law won_

_I Fought the Law and the ... law won_

_~song lyrics _

_by Sonny Curtis_

_performed originally _

_by The Crickets~_

**EPOV**

I hastily flipped on the headlights, muttering to myself as only one dim light flickered on. The glow of the moonlight shining down on the road wasn't enough to lead us away from Aro, whose truck chugged and sputtered along the road as it passed us by. The beams from the pickup truck twisted in the darkness as he swung around in the parking lot of his business, turning in the same direction we faced as we pulled onto the road. The roar of an engine blasted through the night, louder than the sound of our old borrowed car that groaned and sputtered as I willed it forward.

My ears were pounding. My heart thumped erratically against my chest sending the blood rushing through my veins. The exhilaration, the fucking _thrill_ of it all threw me into my element. I was nothing but swirling dust, trapped in a cyclone, blinding the road with a smoky gray haze.

I always loved a good car chase. It wasn't the first time my tires had spun out onto an old road, burning rubber as I stomped on the gas, leaving nothing but suffocating exhaust in my wake, but I wasn't in my car. My Mustang was parked safely back at home in Birchwood. I was in a piece of shit Eight Mile car with my girl by my side...and she was in danger.

So through the excitement and adrenaline and knowing, _knowing,_ I most likely wasn't going to make it out of the car chase unscathed, I couldn't revel in the pure _adventure_ of it all, because she was beside me, and she was my everything.

"Put your seatbelt on," she suddenly gasped, glancing at me nervously.

"Put _your _seatbelt on," I muttered, pressing the gas pedal to the floor, "and don't worry about me."

Bella's slightly parted mouth snapped shut as she stiffly nodded, her trembling hands struggling to lock the old, stained belt into place.

My thoughts were scattered ideas, fighting among themselves for the next best plan as I floored it across the heat-cracked pavement that slowly crumbled beneath the never-ending worn tires on the old roads. Noticing a side road ahead, I slowed down, making sure not to slam on the brakes and leave tire tracks in my wake.

Glancing in the rearview mirror, I saw no headlights. Somehow we'd left Aro far behind. My eyes narrowed on the road as sheer determination flowed through me. Side-eyeing Bella, I saw her fear-rimmed eyes as I turned down the back road, creeping slowly so not to turn up dust behind me. I was unsure how much time I had on my hands, or of the distance that lay between her uncle and I.

I nosed the car down the road. We disappeared into the darkness with nothing but one working headlight illuminating our path. The road was submerged in the thick backwoods. The branches of the trees overhead reached out, clinging together, their wisteria-laden limbs forming a tunnel of darkness that we slowly descended into.

The sound of Bella's haggard breath broke the silence. My own breath was caught in my throat, threatening to flow free past my pursed lips and flared nostrils. The darkness suddenly became infiltrated with flashing lights up ahead, the red and blue shock of colors flowing through the trees and brush in a deliberate rhythm, faint but still clearly there.

Bella let out a squeal as I slammed on the brakes, no longer concerned whether the tires turned up dust. The dust flowed around us as we came to a stop. Bella's body jerked forward, her head saved from smashing through the windshield by the safety belt I so firmly insisted on.

Eyes round with shock and bottom lip quivering, Bella sat in the ripped, stained passenger seat of the car, staring through the smeared front windshield at the lights ahead. The faintest of colors were quickly brightening the longer we sat. I reached for my cell and quickly called my uncle. As the droning of Carlisle's voicemail played in my ear, I quickly and firmly told Bella what I expected her to do.

"Run," I repeated emphatically, pressing my thumb stubbornly against the warped metal that locked her seatbelt in place. "When you hit the woods, don't look back. Got it? Don't look back, Bella. No matter what you hear."

Mouth opening to argue, she turned to me and I saw the fear in her eyes. I pulled open the glove box and dug around removing two items. The glove box stood ajar, the inside light long burned out, but still I saw what lay hidden beneath mounds of napkins, junk mail, and old candy wrappers: a small blue flashlight and a 9mm pistol, the serial number mysteriously absent from the inky black weapon. These were two items I stashed in the Eight Mile car earlier that night.

After shoving them both in her hand, I pointed in the direction of the sky where a large star shone bright. I was suddenly thankful for the brief amount of time I spent with my father before he was murdered, happy he taught me the things he did.

"Run, Bella. Run north and don't stop until you hit the highway. Do you see that star? Follow it. That star will take you north, to the highway."

"Polaris," she breathed, the giant star reflecting in her eyes as she stared into the sky.

"If it gets cloudy use your flashlight to..."

"Look for the moss growing on the trees," she responded, turning back to me, swallowing and nodding as she dropped her eyes to the flashlight in her hands. "The moss always grows facing north. I know how to escape the woods. My daddy taught me."

I swallowed the dry knot lodged in my throat at her admission, at yet another thing we had in common.

"Don't stop running, no matter what you hear. Keep running and don't use the flashlight unless you have to."

"I can't just leave you here," she croaked. "I know what you're doing. You're sacrificing yourself. I don't want to leave you. You don't have to do this."

"I do," I insisted, quickly pulling her in for a brief kiss. "There's no other option. Just go."

My mouth brushed against hers as I mumbled the words. They were the last words spoken to her as her trembling lips parted from mine. She dropped her eyes, gave a slight nod, and left the car. The door quietly closed behind her, a feeble attempt to not draw attention to her presence. I watched as she stumbled down the slight embankment, the bracken loose and slippery beneath her feet, causing her to momentarily lose her footing. Once she regained it, she shot me one last look; it was a look of broken longing and shattered regret. Then she was gone, disappearing into the black forest, leaving me alone with a mute phone pressed against my ear, leaving me alone with nothing but the terrifying realization that she may not make it out of those woods alive if they found her.

"I'm on County Road 316," I finally spoke into the stubbornly silent phone, shifting into reverse and kicking up dust as I spun around. "Aro is somewhere behind me. There's a cop car ahead of me. They've got me hemmed in. Where _are _you? Bella's in the woods headed north. She should hit the highway in the next thirty minutes. I need you to pick her up."

I gripped the steering wheel in my hands, grinding my teeth together as headlights shone ahead of me. An old pickup truck was gaining speed, along with the cop car that was now approaching from just yards away. My fight or flight instincts kicked in, but there was no possible way around the wide truck or the blindingly fast police car speeding up behind me. There was no escape. I was trapped.

Trapped.

I tried Carlisle's cell one last time, only to get his voicemail yet again. I shot Garrett a quick text and slid the phone in my pocket.

As the roar of their engines grew louder, so did the rush of blood flowing through my veins, pounding against my eardrums in a dizzying rhythm. My mind was a frenzy of thoughts, of ideas, of feelings and indecision about what to do. I was a cocky bastard, believing we could pull it off, knowing without a doubt that we would break into Aro's office undetected and find the information linking him to my father's death, but I was wrong. I was so fucking wrong. None of that happened. Nothing I planned worked out.

I wanted him to die. I desired nothing more than to put a bullet through his skull, but that wouldn't happen because I had no gun. My gun was with Bella, and Bella was in the woods running for her life.

When that old pickup truck came to a stop and not only Aro, but also his brothers Marcus and Felix, poured out, I knew there was no escape. There was no getting out of those woods alive. There were too many of them. Too many of them and only one of me.

Aro's truck came to a stop just feet away from the front of my borrowed car, turning up dust and rocks, and spraying a few on the front of the car. Another vehicle, a newer model truck, emerged from around the bend in the woods, parking directly behind Aro's truck. I stared solemnly through the window, releasing the steering wheel from the death grip in which I held it. The police cruiser pulled up as well, edging up on my bumper as the driver immediately cut the lights. Aro's lights cut out at the same time.

The lights perched on top of the cruiser were only for show. They were there for a slim moment in time to alert me of his presence, but once I was aware of it he no longer needed the lights, because the last thing the driver wanted was for the blood-red and royal blue flashing to seep between the trees. If those lights shone too brightly for too long, the man slipping from behind the wheel, the man whose son I murdered in cold blood, couldn't do what I believed he came there to do that night.

Billy Black came to kill me.

Avoiding glancing in the direction of the woods in which Bella fled, I took a deep breath and chuckled, fucking _chuckled _because this was it. This was what it came down to. Eighteen years on the earth, eighteen years of being someone no one wanted to be, eighteen years being someone everyone wanted to be, eighteen years of being taught hate, being taught distrust towards the Swans came down to that night.

I knew I would go down, but I wasn't going down without a fight. So with a deep breath and a smirk plastered on my face, I pulled open the door of the borrowed car, raising an eyebrow at the gun trained on me as Billy Black emerged from his own vehicle. The door of the car slammed behind me as I shoved it closed with the back of my boot. I glanced over my shoulder to shoot my smirk at Aro, Felix, and Marcus as they stepped down from Aro's truck. That smirk quickly burned away at the sight of the three people joining them from the other vehicle.

Aro's brother, Alec...and his daughter, Makenna.

Bella's cousin, who normally looked strikingly like her, stood slightly behind her father, standing unsteadily on weakened legs. She avoided my gaze, choosing instead to stare down at her dirty sneakers as her father, a man I'd only seen a handful of times, smirked back at me.

I found myself shaking my head, a bitter chuckle escaping my chest, tight with tension. The brothers exchanged confused glances as my laughter suddenly became off-kilter and slightly maniacal.

"You're kidding, right?" I snorted, ignoring Billy Black as he drew closer with his gun, my laughing eyes fixed on Makenna. "You double-crossed us? You? The same girl I watched sit on her cousin's, no, her _best friend's_ hospital bed and help paint her mother fucking toenails? Why? Why would you do this?"

"He's my father," she whispered as tears formed in her wide brown eyes, spilling over her slightly sallow cheeks.

"And she was your best friend!" I roared as black spots slowly peppered my vision. "What has Bella done to you? What has she done to deserve your betrayal?"

Makenna said nothing. She stared down at the ground, stared down at the darkness.

"Who else is in on it?" I demanded, sucking in a deep breath as the barrel of Billy's gun suddenly pressed firmly against my right temple.

"My advice to you," he drawled around the toothpick bobbing from the corner of his mouth, "is to shut the fuck up."

My head snapped to the side, white stars exploding in my vision, snuffing out the black spots as he pistol whipped me. I fell against the old car, but quickly righted myself and turned back to him, clenching my hands into tight fists as my throat tightened in blinding fury. My right temple pounded with a sudden sharp pain. A long, thin trail of blood tickled my skin as it slid down my flesh from a newly opened wound. I swiped my hand against the wound, staining my hand with my own bright red blood.

"Did my son bleed?" Billy's low voice grumbled as his dark eyes narrowed in on mine. "Did my son bleed when you killed him? You did kill him, didn't you, Edward? My only child … you murdered him in cold blood."

"What are you gonna do, Sherriff Black?" I asked, grinning at the angry, weathered man glaring at me. "Shoot me? I doubt it. There's people who know where I am. They'll look for me."

"Like your uncle?" Aro suddenly spoke up, chuckling bitterly as he lit a cigar. "Where is Carlisle, Edward? Where is your uncle tonight?"

My blood turned to ice at his amused expression. He puffed the large cigar through his heat-chapped lips, shooting Billy a humorous wink before his eyes slid back to mine.

"He was sitting outside the judge's house, watching in case we left our weekly poker game, right?" he questioned, his eyes sparkling with mischievous amusement.

"Where is my uncle?" I seethed.

"Don't worry, son," Aro laughed, smirking at his brothers before turning his face back to mine. "I'm sure he's keeping poor little Alice company wherever she may be."

"You sick fuck!" I hollered, lunging at the grinning man.

Billy moved at a surprisingly fast pace for a man of his stature and age, grasping my shirt and yanking me back against the vehicle. The wind was knocked out of me as he slammed his beefy fist into my abdomen, and I doubled over once again, staggering slightly on my feet as I sucked in a desperate breath.

"Come on, Edward," Aro laughed, closing in on me while easily puffing away at the cigar. "What's the old saying that people use? Ah, yes. He's in a better place now? That's it. Old Carlisle's in a better place now."

"Like Alice?" I gasped, pressing my hands against my knees as I continued my struggle to breathe, staring at Aro's worn boots for a moment as my eyes trailed back up to his. "Like my father? Like Charlie Swan?"

Aro said nothing, only choosing to smirk as his dark eyes honed in on mine.

"You've fucked Bella up," I hissed, my eyes boring into his. "You've fucked up her brain. You set that goddamn hospital on fire. You killed innocent people in that hospital. You burned them to death, you sick fucker. You killed your own fucking niece because you thought she knew too much on you, too much on James, too much on Charlie. Now Bella is _ruined_. She's fucking _ruined_."

"So I've heard," Aro drawled, casting a sideways glance at his quiet niece. "I've heard how she's in denial, how she thinks her sister is traveling west with her boyfriend. Crazy's always ran deep in the Swan family. My own mother, Alice, and now Bella. How does it feel, Edward? How does it feel fucking a crazy girl every night? Do you like that? Do you like getting your rocks off on some delusional little bitch? You do, don't you? You love it, screwing your psychotic little whore every night."

"Fuck you," I sneered.

"No, fuck _you_," he laughed. "You're pathetic, allowing her to live in her own little fantasy world believing her sister is alive tripping through the daisies somewhere. Oh, she's near the daisies all right, but she's not tripping through them. More like pushing daisies up."

"And I'm next?" I continued as I eventually righted myself, ignoring my sore belly and his boisterous words. "I'm next, then Bella, and after that, what? You're gonna kill everyone who knows the truth about who you really are, Aro? You're gonna kill your own mother after that? Because she fucked a Cullen? That's what this is really about, right? It's not about drugs, or money, or power. It's about the fact that you were born the bastard child of a Cullen, the bastard child of my own grandfather."

Aro's eyes widened minutely before narrowing. The low murmur of his brothers' whispering filled the air, intermingled with the sound of an owl in the distance, and the chorus of frogs and crickets singing around us.

"What's he talking about, Aro?" Marcus demanded, taking a step forward, his eyes darting suspiciously between mine and Aro's. "What the fuck is he talking about?"

"Nothing," Aro hissed. "Just more Cullen bullshit. He's trying to turn us against each other, another lowlife trick the Cullen's have come up with."

"A trick?" I laughed, shaking my head in disgust. "That's the best you can do, _Uncle Arnold_? What'd it feel like growing up, watching your father dote on his first-born son, Charlie? Did he love him more than you? Did he take him fishing? Bella says her father loved to fish. Learned everything he knew from his own father. Did he include you on those fishing trips, _Uncle Arnold_, or did he leave you out? Did you stay at home with your mother during those long fishing trips? Is that it? You were stuck home baking cakes and pies with Nana Swan while your younger brother was away from home, fishing with a father who never accepted you."

"He's trying to play y'all," Aro insisted, throwing the words over his shoulder to his brothers as his face glowed red under the pale moonlight. "I'm tired of listening to this fabricated bullshit spewing from your mouth. Where's Bella? Where's my Cullen whore of a niece?"

"Do you really think I'd take her with me to break into your office?" I smirked.

I was suddenly filled with a new sense of power as the Swan brothers gazed at Aro with unsure, distrusting, dark, matching eyes. I leaned on my borrowed car, wincing below my breath as my sore abdomen protested with the casual movement.

"I thought you said she'd be with him," Aro spoke to Makenna, his eyes never leaving mine.

"That was the plan..." Makenna answered quietly, her voice trailing off at the end.

"Speaking of plans," I interrupted, easily buying my girlfriend more time to dart through the woods as I changed the subject. "You Swans, you all must take us Cullens for idiots. I always have a backup plan, you know. Do you honestly think I tell Bella everything? Is that the way it works with the Swan men? You lay in bed at night exchanging your dirty little secrets with your wives?"

Makenna shifted on her feet. Aro's eyes formed angry little slits as he watched my sarcastic grin turn up into a full smile. Shaking my head, I continued.

"Bella has always known that there are things she'd be left in the dark about in our relationship," I explained, shooting the Swan men a lazy grin. "My family, we have connections everywhere. Did you really think I was stupid enough to sneak into your office without a plan B? What do you take me for, a fucking idiot kid running on half a brain?"

"What do you..." Felix Swan spoke.

"It's about time," I murmured, glancing down at my watch and noting the time, a curling smile twisting on my face. "If there's one thing I know about my uncle it's that he never fails a mission."

"It's about time to what?" Billy grunted, cocking the gun as he pointed it at my face once more.

"Duck," I whispered, ignoring the gun Billy Black trained on me as I watched the second hand on my watch draw alarmingly close to the twelve.

The men jumped as I hit the ground, rolling sideways and forcing myself under the borrowed car.

That's when the world around us skyrocketed, the fire in the sky so bright that it blinded me and I had to force my eyelids shut as the thunderous sound of Aro's truck exploding filled the night air. Shards of glass and metal cut through the air, spraying against the car I hid under.

Makenna's shrill scream cracked through the darkened sky. I smoothly pulled my body from the opposite side of the car, glancing back over one shoulder before I darted into the woods. The sight of the girl's clothes and hair engulfed in flames would forever be burned into the back of my eyes as I ran, swallowing dryly as her image disappeared and was replaced with one of Bella's sister.

Bella lived in sweet denial, her mind conveniently choosing to forget the words we'd repeated over and over to her, telling her that Alice was dead, that she wasn't traveling west with Jasper, who was actually away at college struggling with his own ghosts and demons.

Bella's mind refused to absorb the words, choosing instead to live in a false sense of denial. Alice wasn't coming back. There was no storm, there was no return of the small, dark-haired, misunderstood girl whose body was burned so badly upon recognition that there wasn't even a viewing at her own funeral.

"Retribution," I told myself, willing away the guilt I felt as the men hollered behind me, some fighting the flames on Makenna's scorching body as they threw her to the ground, some yelling at me as they followed me into the dark woods. "Retribution."

Shots rang out into the night. The sound of whizzing bullets flew past me as I twisted and ducked beneath low-lying branches and swaying trees. Polaris stood bright and bold in the sky, beckoning me north to where Bella awaited me.

Bracken crunching beneath heavy boots followed me as I fled through the forest. The only other sounds were the popping and cracking of a burning car, the screams of a newly disfigured girl, and the wheezing bursting forth from Billy Black's chest as he descended closer, emptying his gun with his last bullet.

* * *

So ... I'll be hiding out for the rest of the weekend *cough*.

Thanks Ali, the most wonderful beta in the whole entire universe, for being so super quick correcting my mistakes. Thanks to Jonesn who pre-reads and boosts my ego into majorly epic proportions.

Don't forget to check out the Dirty Talkin' Edward contest. Jonesn and I may or may not have a collab in there that we are both so very proud of. Make sure you check it out. There's some fantastic entries.

reviews = lurve/hate/whatever

Peace and Love,

Hoodie


	32. Chapter 32: Jailhouse Rock

_Previously, in Chapter Thirty-one..._

_Bracken crunching beneath heavy boots followed me as I fled through the forest. The only other sounds were the popping and cracking of a burning car, the screams of a newly disfigured girl, and the wheezing bursting forth from Billy Black's chest as he descended closer, emptying his gun with his last bullet._

* * *

**Chapter Thirty-two: Jailhouse Rock**

"_I think it's too bad that everybody's decided to turn on drugs, I don't think drugs are the problem. Crime is the problem. Cops are the problem. Money's the problem. But drugs are just drugs."_

_~Jerry Garcia~_

**EPOV**

I saw a documentary once that told the story of a kid who paddled out into the ocean on her surfboard. She lay on the board, basking in the summer sun, laughing and chatting with her friends and family when a lone shark crept up just below the surface. The sleek predator tore her arm clean off her body, never pausing in his movements as he slid through the dark waters, vanishing in its endless depths.

During the interview, the girl was asked how she remained alert through the pain of having a limb ripped from her body. The girl explained that she never initially felt any pain. She didn't even realize her arm was missing until she glanced down and noticed the frothy, pink, blood-stained ocean bubbling around her. When she went to lift herself up on the surfboard with her arm, it was missing. There was nothing left but a mass of bone, blood, tendons, and muscle hanging from a tattered nub. She never felt any pain, not until she awoke from surgery, full of nothing but stitches and nightmares of a silent, invisible enemy cutting through the murky waters of her dreams, terrorizing her very existence.

At the time I could never understand how someone could have something so traumatic, so violent, happen to them. It was unfathomable to grasp how a vicious animal could rip a person's limb from their body without the person writhing in agonizing pain. I just never got it.

Until the night Billy Black shot me.

I didn't even realize it happened. I was too wrapped up in my desperation to get to _her_ as Billy's gun emptied and a shrill, female scream broke in the distance.

The sound of her scream fueled my escape from Billy Black. His wheezing breaths and the crunch of boots filled the night air, intermingling with mine. Twigs and leaves of low-lying branches slapped across my face, arms, and legs.

I stumbled on exposed roots, nearly losing my footing before quickly regaining my balance and darting forward. The only source of light was the moonlight pouring through the trees, and the north star shining brightly overhead.

The ground suddenly gave way in an unexpected dip in the earth. I slid down a steep hill, sputtering curses below my breath as I landed near a wide creek on my hands and knees.

The ground was covered in soft, light-green birch tree leaves, splattered with red. I stared down at the stain in the moonlight as the red liquid dripped down from somewhere above. I glanced stupidly up to see where the blood came from. My eyes met nothing but the night sky.

It was then I felt sticky, thick wetness spreading over my shirt, the liquid tickling my neck. I pressed my hand against my neck then held my hand up in the moonlight, staring dumbfounded at my hand.

Blood. _My_ blood.

That mother fucker shot me.

I was stunned for a moment, blinded by the sight of my own blood on my hand, dripping down my wrist and coating my arm. The shock of the trauma, the unexpectancy of unknowingly being injured had me rendered frozen until I heard the sound of male voices at the top of the hill closing in on me.

Momentarily ignoring my injury, I glanced around, frantic in my search to get away. That's when I saw a large tree leaning over the creek, thick and aged with the soil burrowed out just beneath. Long thick roots roped in and out of the soil at each side as the tree burst forth from the earth as though it were fleeing the confines of the deep forest, just as I was. Thin, scraggly roots hung down below the base of the tree, clawing across the surface of the slowly drifting creek water, partly hiding the shallow indentation beneath.

I fell into the water, slipping and crawling across the slick creek bottom until I reached the base of the tree. I grasped the roots, pulling them apart and silently praying to all that was holy that a fucking beaver wasn't burrowed somewhere inside. The dark water and black hole swallowed me whole as I pressed my body into the tight cavity, taking small, quiet gasps of air as the water rushed over my mouth and nose occasionally.

The ebb and flow of sound came and went as the water drifted in and out of my ears, but I heard them in the distance cursing and pacing, searching the woods for me, and possibly her if they heard her scream as well.

A bright light blinded me as it landed on my face. I dropped my head below the surface of the black water, holding my breath as long as possible before emerging once more. The light shifted in a new direction as two dark figures stood at the top of the hill, one holding a spotlight, slowly and carefully guiding the shaky beam of light across the forest floor.

"Where is he?" the voice of Billy Black grunted.

"I don't know, but did you hear that scream when you shot?" Aro questioned, to which Billy nodded, his figure silhouetted by the pale moonlight washing through the trees. "She's out here somewhere. Heading to the highway probably."

"She'll never find her way out," Billy assured him in a confident, gravelly tone. "These woods are easy to get lost in. Especially a young girl."

"She's her daddy's girl," Aro interrupted in an eerily calm, almost nostalgic voice. "She knows the woods like the back of her hand. Charlie taught her everything he knew before he died. Even if she didn't make it out tonight, she could survive on her own for weeks in the woods. Maybe longer. We don't have that much time. Not with that fucking FBI agent sniffing around."

The rush of a stiff, hot wind picked up, whispering through the trees, drowning out the remainder of their words for a moment before I heard their soft conversation resume. Then Billy said something that turned my blood into ice water.

"I'll call down to the station," he told Aro. "I'll get Paul to bring the K9 down here. Old Rosco will sniff him out in a New York minute."

If Aro said anything it was lost in the babbling of the creek and the chattering of dry, cracked branches. The beam of light disappeared, bathing the forest in darkness once more. I blinked my eyes several times, trying to focus on my surroundings once more, my gaze darting back to the top of the hill. The two silhouettes were gone, no longer hovering high on the hilltop.

I heard a hiss and gasp and jumped in shock, but there was no need. The sound came from my own lips as the sting and burn from the wound to my neck began to throb, reminding me of my injury. I refused to move, ignoring the newfound throbbing pain, focusing my thoughts on Bella as I remained beneath the hollowed out tree trunk, submerged in water, until an unsettling dizziness consumed me.

My heart picked up pace in my chest as I swayed slightly in the water. The thought of passing out in the creek and losing Bella forever was overwhelming. I took a deep breath, trying to calm the blood racing through my veins, knowing the increase of my pulse could cause me to bleed out even more.

When the forest was silent yet again, I parted the curtain of bony roots, pushing myself through the water and standing on two weak legs. Forcing the image of my girlfriend forward once more, I waded with determination through the water as far north as the creek would allow me.

My time to find Bella was limited. I could only hope that she made it to the highway and found help. If Billy had radioed the police station and requested the K9, I'd be caught within minutes and I'd never know if she made it out of the woods alive.

I remembered the photograph of the prized German Shepherd, Rosco, splashed across the county newspaper some time ago as he sat solemnly by his master's side. The paper boasted drug busts all over the county, publicly displaying Billy and Jacob Black and their lists of arrests like they'd won the damn lottery. I remembered Carlisle laughing, shaking his head and murmuring over the 'poor fools' who were arrested, the irony of two of the dirtiest cops around arresting them not lost on anyone.

"That's just the way it works, Edward," Carlisle had shrugged with an easy grin when I complained about crooked cops. "They make a few arrests, make the community believe they're doing their jobs when, in reality, people like Aro Swan and I are paying them off. Everyone's a winner."

"Except the ones who get caught," I grumbled. "That's hardly fair. What do you have to say about _that_?"

"Simple," he'd grinned, his blue eyes glinting mischievously. "Don't get caught."

_Don't get caught._

Those were three words that were easier said than done. _Don't get caught_. Had he gotten caught? Had Aro and Billy murdered my uncle as they'd so proudly boasted? Had they found Bella … and murdered her as well?

I trudged forward, forcing the thought from my mind, busying myself by hesitantly brushing the tip of my index finger against the wound in my neck. I cringed at the burn, yet sighed in relief at the shallow indentation marred in my flesh. Somehow the bullet had simply grazed me, leaving a flesh wound, albeit, a good-sized one.

I pulled my wet shirt from my body and ripped it in half. I hurriedly squeezed the water from it and wrapped it around my neck in an attempt to stop any further bleeding. I gripped the remainder of the shirt in one hand, having nowhere to throw it lest someone find it.

A break in the trees up ahead on a tall embankment called to me, and I knew I had found the highway. My body felt heavy and tired as I pulled myself from the creek, digging my fingers in the moist earth as I climbed up the bank.

Leaves and dirt clung to my wet jeans as I fumbled inside my pocket, sighing in relief as my expensive phone case did exactly what I shelled out the big bucks for it to do: protect my phone. I held it in one dirty hand as I trudged up the base of the embankment to the highway, freezing at the sight before me.

_Bella._

She must have spotted me from the top of the hill because there she stood in the middle of the highway, holding a flashlight in one hand and a gun in the other. Her eyes were wide, fixated on the material wrapped around my neck. I couldn't help but break into an exhausted, relieved grin as I continued up the steep hill just a few yards away from her.

Headlights suddenly illuminated her body. The smile slipped from my face as a dark vehicle came barreling down the highway towards her. In a panic I rushed forward, struggling to climb the remainder of the hill. My boots and jeans were heavy with creek water weighing me down, holding me back on the steep incline.

I was too late.

It was as though she were in some sort of trance, unmoving, her eyes frozen on mine as the vehicle squealed to a stop beside her. I yelled out to her in a broken voice as a large figure emerged from the car, his identity hidden by the sooty clouds drifting in front of the moon.

Seized with horror, I watched as he easily shoved her into the backseat of the car, her body seemingly unwilling to fight against the broad man as he slammed the door behind her.

The man turned to face me. In that brief moment I saw his face, just as the clouds left the surface of the moon. My mouth fell open as I recognized his identity. I stumbled forward again and started to yell once more, but my words were replaced with the sound of voices in the distance.

"Go," I managed to hoarsely whisper, my low voice echoing up the hill

The man said nothing. He slipped inside the vehicle and sped off into the night, leaving me standing halfway up a red clay hill on the side of a Mississippi highway. That is, until the razor-sharp teeth of a canine sunk into my right arm, flailing me about and throwing me to the ground. The dog's golden eyes were the last thing I remembered before darkness consumed me and I drifted into unconsciousness

~DSDW~

I awoke sometime later, my neck throbbing and twitching in pain, along with my right arm which felt as though it'd been through a meat grinder. Something heavy was wrapped around my neck, the material glued painfully to what felt like raw, open flesh.

The surface below me was hard and painfully uncomfortable. I pried my eyes open and stared up at a dirty ceiling before glancing around in confusion, groaning as I fought to pull myself in a sitting position. I yelped as I automatically used my right arm for support.

My eyes met long metal bars and a solemn looking Billy Black, who sat on a metal folding chair directly in front of me, just past the bars. I stared at him dumbly, my mind reeling as I tried to comprehend my surroundings. The memory of a burning girl, Bella's frozen figure on a long stretch of highway, and canine teeth ripping through my skin flooded my mind.

I tried to stand, but quickly succumbed to the dizziness washing over my senses. I swayed in place slightly, narrowing my eyes on the stern man in front of me.

The man reached in his pocket and withdrew a package of chaw. He opened the bag and shoved a large plug in his mouth, packing it to one side and allowing his weathered cheek to protrude out. After gradually folding the package in half, he shoved it back in his pocket and stared at me a beat longer before he finally spoke.

"Where's Bella, Edward?"

"Fuck you," I spat, pissed off as hell and hurting like a son of a bitch, but still somehow able to shoot him a cocky grin.

Billy smiled, something I'd never seen him do before. He chuckled to himself and shook his head slightly in faux amusement.

"I wouldn't act so arrogant if I were you," he mused, leaning forward in the chair, his dark eyes studying mine. "Your uncle is dead. The rest of your family? They're next. That is, unless you decide to answer some questions starting with where your little girlfriend is."

"What's Aro paying you to be his little bitch?" I smirked, ignoring his words as the grin dropped from his face. "Does he pay you in money, drugs? Wait! I've got it. He pays you with sex, doesn't he? That explains everything...why you never married, why you follow Aro around like a lost puppy."

Billy quickly regained his composure, narrowing his eyes and tilting his head to the side as he studied me.

"You're still a cocky little shit, ain't you?"

"Nah, not cocky," I argued, hiding a wince as I pulled myself on two wobbly legs and stumbled to the nearby twin bed, and dropping onto the dirty mattress. "I'm just not intimidated by you. If you wanted me dead I wouldn't be in this cell."

"I've already shot you once," Billy warned, snubbing my words. "Don't think I won't do it again. Now tell me where Bella Swan is? Who was in the black car? Who picked her up on the highway?"

"Scared, huh?" I asked, searching his face for any hint of fear. "Makenna told Aro our plans, but he didn't show up soon enough. Y'all trapped us though. I bet you thought you could off me in the woods. Make up some bullshit story about what happened. You didn't expect Bella to actually get away though, did you? Now you're afraid the good people of Mayhaw will find out the truth about you, how you're not the hero they once thought you were. You're not just the poor Chief of Police whose son has yet to be found."

His black eyes bore into mine for an intense moment at the mention of his missing son. I expected him to ask about Jacob Black, but he never did.

I shrugged at his silence, groaning at the pain that shot through my right arm. I made the mistake of gazing down, sucking in a sharp breath at the sight of open gashes. Dried blood stained my skin and I could barely turn my eyes away from it.

The sound of a chair scraping around the uneven ground filled my ears. Billy disappeared from in front of the cell, only to appear a moment later with a folder in his hands. He had a strange, amused smile on his face, twisting at one side as he sat back down in the metal chair and flipped through the file.

"Tell me something, Edward," the older man said, his eyes darting over the paperwork in front of him. "Just how bad do you want to know who murdered your father?"

My stomach flipped, then clenched with the question. I saw my father's name scrawled along the edge of the folder in impressively elegant scrawl, somewhat faded over time.

"I know who killed my father," I told him confidently, tearing my eyes from the papers in his hands. "Aro, you, James. You were all in on it together."

"Are you sure, Edward?" he inquired, raising one thick eyebrow, causing the scar running alongside his face to tug on his haggard skin. "Are you absolutely sure? You trusted your Uncle James until you met Bella Swan. You trusted him with your life, am I not right? What about good old Uncle Carlisle? Do you trust him? How well do you _really_ know your family, Edward?"

My left eye begin to twitch with his insinuation. The longer I stared at him the angrier I grew. I pushed the emotion down as I thought of my life, as I remembered the man who took me in as his own child when he didn't have to.

"Carlisle didn't kill my father," I told him with confidence.

"How do you know?" he questioned. "You don't. You don't know who killed your father, but I do. I have the answer to the questions you've been asking yourself most of your life right here, right here in this folder. I'll answer those questions for you, Edward, if you answer mine."

We held each others' gaze for an unfathomable amount of time. I was only vaguely aware of the sound of another presence somewhere nearby, possibly Aro himself or one of the deputies. The only other sounds were the soft snores of a drunk in the cell next to mine, and Billy's bated breaths.

"I don't care," I admitted, surprising myself with the truth in my voice and the relief in my chest. "I don't care who killed my father."

Billy's well-guarded expression turned to one of shock. He silently closed the folder, leaning back in his chair.

"You don't care?" he scowled angrily, the surface of his heavily tanned skin burning a ruddy red. "You lie. How can you not care who murdered your father?"

The man's sneering inquiry was one of the easiest things I'd answered in my entire existence.

"I'd rather live a lifetime of never knowing the circumstances surrounding my father's death than to spend a single moment in time living in the betrayal of the person I love."

The old man sat silently for a minute before he stood. He staggered forward, cursing below his breath as he pulled a set of keys from the waistband of his uniform. His hand shook in anger as he shoved one inside the lock, but was abruptly interrupted by a friendly male voice behind him.

"Hey, boss," a young guy in uniform spoke up, glancing at me briefly before interrupting the old man once more. "Boss, one of my contacts says he spotted a black vehicle goin' down Wheeler Road. Said the headlights were off. Might be the girl. Want me to check it out?"

"No," Billy snapped, withdrawing the key from the lock and turning to the young deputy. "Did you call Aro?"

"Yes, sir," the guy boasted, grinning proudly. "He's on the other side of town. We're closer to Wheeler Road than he is."

"I'll check it out myself," Billy informed him, side-eyeing me briefly. "Keep an eye on Cullen for me, would ya kid?"

"Yes, sir!" he grinned, giving Billy a salute.

Billy shook his head in annoyance and muttered something unintelligible below his breath. He slipped from the building in a rush, slamming the door hurriedly behind him.

The young deputy grinned at me for a moment. I eyed him suspiciously, wondering if the kid was a little slow on the uptake. He dropped into the metal chair, leaned back on the back rungs, and casually threw his hands behind his head. He couldn't have been much older than me, maybe twenty-two or twenty-three, with black hair and matching eyes. His demeanor was too casual for the situation at hand, putting me slightly on edge, although I hid it well for the most part.

"Edward Cullen, huh?" he asked, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "I've heard all about you. Your family is famous around these parts, you know? I'm Paul Lahote. Been working here for the sheriff for goin' on four years now."

"Good for you," I muttered, tugging at the dried material around my neck.

"You really should have that looked at," he suggested kindly. "Before it sets up an infection and all."

"Kinda hard to do while stuck in a fucking jail cell, Deputy," I grumbled at the dense deputy, raising an eyebrow as his grin grew wider.

"Good thing I'm not really a Deputy then."

* * *

Thanks to my beta, AliCat0623, who makes me smile each and every day. I love you, boo.

Thanks to Jonesn for pre-reading, being my rock, and singing me creepy bedtime songs at night *shiver*

Check out the Dirty Talkin' Edward contest and the Journey into the Dark and Twisted contest!

Some of you questioned if Alice was really dead in the last chapter, so I'd like to clear that up. Yes, Alice is really dead. Does Bella see her ghost or is she hallucinating? That's up to you to decide. I love leaving things up to interpretation.

Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Hoodie


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